July 13, 2022
Once you decide moving across the country is your next step in life, preparing your home for sale is something you can’t avoid. Around 6 million homes are sold each year in the U. S., and the housing market keeps growing. As a result, homes are selling quickly. No wonder you decided to say goodbye to your old place and have a fresh start in a new environment.
This is a time-consuming process, which shouldn’t be surprising because it takes six months to sell property on average. The sooner you start, the more time you’ll have for all the tasks that need to be done, and you surely don’t want the house to remain on the market for too long. If you’re moving for a job or have other reasons for moving and decided to sell your property, you could use some tips on preparing yourself and the house to show it to potential buyers. Keep reading and find out how to do this effortlessly and smoothly.
Why It Is Important for You to Know How to Prepare Your House for Sale
If it is your first time moving out and you’re not experienced in the sales process, you might need a guide. It is essential to learn all the helpful tips and tricks, just like you learned moving hacks that will make relocation effortless. While the property is listed, you want to be appealing to the masses. Less showing and more money is something every seller wishes for. It is possible, but you’ll have to learn how to do it in the best possible way. Not only it will keep you sane, but it can also affect your whole experience of moving out.
Make sure you stay organized during the selling process
Preparing the Home Means Preparing Yourself Emotionally
Selling a house isn’t easy; in fact, moving is categorized as one of the most stressful events in one’s life. When you finally made a decision to move, that is when it all starts. You start your research, timeline, and logistics. This all is already enough to keep you up at night and stressed out. Among all the tasks and worries, you also have to sell your house. Most people need to put start advertising their property while they still live in it. All this can be difficult and overwhelming because your home is like a box full of memories. However, you’ll have to detach yourself emotionally from this memory box because your new home will bring a lot of memories.
You might get emotional when it comes to relocation to a new environment and leaving the old place
Create a Preparing Your Home for Sale Checklist
The key to a successful listing and showing of your home is good organization. Just like you need a moving-out checklist that will keep you on track with all the tasks that are already done and with those that have to be done for avoiding moving mistakes, a checklist would do you good here, too.
As you decide to move, start creating the checklist. The work you put into preparing everything for a listing will directly affect the price and the time your house will be sold. The first task on your list should be the cleaning part. No one likes to see dirt and dust, and having everything under control will ensure that the first impression is positive, and that is the most important in this process. Create a mini move-out cleaning checklist that will help you not to forget not even the smallest thing to clean.
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Check if Your Family House Needs Fixing Up
Over time, you stop noticing all those small holes in the wall and other stuff that needs fixing. When it comes to showing property, all that should be fixed because the buyers will see them even though you don’t notice them anymore. Put yourself in the buyer’s shoes and think about how they would feel if there were a lot of things to do after moving in. The entire perception of the place could change and even the small stuff can pull them away from buying.
Don’t Forget the Front and Back Yard
It is crucial to have a nice front yard, but also a backyard. When someone is looking to buy a place, the first thing they’ll see is everything that surrounds it, and instant judgment can affect a lot of decisions in all other aspects of the place. Invest in your garden and lawn because the first impression is what will guide the buyers in their next impression of the whole place. You don’t have to do a lot, just try landscaping a bit. Trim the bushes, get rid of moss, weeds, and overgrown grass where possible. On the other hand, if you’re moving in winter, ensure you clean all the snow from the driveway.
Organize Closets and Storages
If you think you can stuff everything you don’t want to see out of sight, unfortunately, it is not a good idea. Potential buyers will open all the closets and storages you have in your place. The best solution is to have creative ideas for storage where you still can keep some of your stuff. The last thing you want is to make the potential buyers think there isn’t enough space for all of their things. Watch the video below to check some amazing ideas for organizing your closets:
Tips for Preparing Your Home for Sale – Depersonalize It as Much as Possible
There is a big difference between a cluttered and uncluttered place. Imagine when a potential buyer enters the almost empty and clean rooms – ideas just spring up. Put away all of your personal belongings like all family photos and other decorations. People looking at your place will want to imagine it’s their own. With someone else’s photos, it might be hard to do so.
The place will feel bigger without bulky stuff, so packing and moving furniture out of the way would be an essential step in this process. If you’re wondering what to do with all those bulky items, you can check with your cross-country movers for their storage services and see if they offer the first month free storage option.
Take Care of the Kitchen and the Bathroom
If you have older small appliances in your kitchen, it would be better to put them away. Buyers won’t surely see it as an advantage but something that needs to be updated. The same stands for floors and all elements in the bathroom, as well. If your kitchen and bathroom haven’t been updated in twenty years, you might consider investing a bit of money and modernizing them.
Declutter and Donate or Sell the Unwanted Items
Maybe the most time-consuming part of the whole process is gathering all of your stuff and deciding what you will bring with you. Start decluttering room by room and make piles of stuff that you can later categorize for better organization. You can create one category with things that you use daily, the second with things you’ll keep but are not currently using, and the third one with things you don’t need.
The fewer things you have, the nicer your home will be for future buyers. Deciding what to keep isn’t easy, but once you start, you’ll be sure that all the necessary items won’t be in the way and you won’t have to think about what to do with them. Don’t forget you can also declutter the outdoor area and sell unwanted items by organizing a garage sale if you’re not in a last-minute move. You can also sell or donate the stuff you don’t use anymore on Craiglist.
There is no such thing as too much decluttering
To Hire or Not to Hire a Real Estate Agent
No matter if you’re moving for love or you decided to move alone, every relocation is stressful. In the midst of packing your books and figuring out how to lift heavy objects, you might realize you’ll need professional help from real estate agents. If you decide to hire a real estate agent, interview at least three. That way, you can be sure that you’ll get reliable and competent help during this long process. You can ask your family and friends for a recommendation because it is essential to have a trustworthy person that will handle this professionally.
Before putting an open house sign up, consider getting help from a real estate agent
Professional Photos Will Help Boost the Chances of Selling
When preparing your house for sale, the photos play an important role in the whole process. When buyers look for real estate to buy, they usually first go online and look at the photos available on real estate websites. Think about what can make a future buyer fall in love with your place and point that out by hiring a professional photographer. If you have a parking spot, point that out, and before start thinking about auto transport, you might want to wash your car for the photoshoot. Don’t forget to ask the agent if their service includes taking professional photos of the real estate they are selling.
Everybody likes a good picture so make sure you have them when selling your place
Make Your House Sparkle on the Showing Day
Try everything you can to make that first impression as pleasant as possible. It is all about how the buyer feels about your place. Here are preparing your home for sale tips you should implement:
- Give a fresh coat of paint to your front door if it hasn’t been painted in a while,
- Ensure your place is bright as possible because no one likes to enter a dark room even with artificial light; open the curtains, no matter if they are dark or bright,
- If the paint on the walls is dark, it’s better to repaint them in a brighter color. That way, the room will look a lot bigger,
- Neutralize any unpleasant smells. Pack your shoes, put away your pets, and don’t cook any meals when the real estate agent comes with a prospective buyer.
Start the cleaning part in advance
A Professional Cross Country Movers Group Will Ease the Whole Process
Among all the moving services and other tasks you have to do so you could avoid moving stress, making your place nicer and beautiful might seem like an impossible thing to do. However, if you hire a trustworthy cross country moving company that will take care of all the moving services, and maybe even packing services, as well, will help you focus on other tasks from the checklist. Don’t forget that professional long-distance movers have many years of experience and all the hack for packing quickly. When all the relocation steps are taken care of, you can plan how to sell your place.
