10 Key Steps to Sell Your Home
10 points as you are approaching the idea of selling your home.
Identify your motivation in selling.
Your motivation to move sets the whole tone of the transaction. It is best to be honest in your motivation to sell to yourself. It helps with the mental preparation that needs to happen towards the next step of your life. The emotional attachment to a place where you’ve created memories can make the process challenging. Acknowledging those emotions and allowing yourself to transition mentally from “my home” to “a home I need to sell” is crucial. It’s like turning the page to a new chapter in your life.
Commit to a Representation Strategy.
I am a bit biased in this section. I believe in the power of having a trustworthy representative by your side, a Real Estate Agent. Why? A good Real Estate Agent will help you buffer the negotiation sessions to your advantage. Emotions can run high with negotiations with another person. It is nice to “vent” to a third party about what is frustrating you with the process. They may have helpful suggestions or be able to help you work through how you are going to handle the situation. Having a seasoned counselor to go through the process is invaluable. You don’t have to be alone in the process.
Do the Little Home Improvements.
The home should be as finished as possible. Especially, if you want the highest price for your home. I know there are budgetary limits. However, the little things count a bit more in the real estate game.
Check your heating and air units.
Do a home inspection and fix what you can fix.
Have outlet covers on all outlets in the home.
Fresh paint and carpet hide a lot of imperfections.
Good bones always command a higher price. Ones that are worn and with damages tend to suffer the most in the price department. You want to put the home’s best foot forward.
Curb Appeal Matters.
It’s not just the interior that counts in a home. Exterior looks matter a bunch too! A spruced-up exterior and well-maintained grounds also add to the desirability of a home.
What do I mean?
Mowed lawn,
Beds that have dead plants or weeds pulled,
Fresh paint on trim,
New looking lighting fixtures with fresh bulbs,
Visible house numbers,
Mailboxes painted and upright, etc.
Price your Home Competitively.
This can be a tough row to hoe. There is so much information out there to assist you in pricing your home. Some of it is good and some of it is not so good. It has always been pressed upon me to look at apples-to-apples comparisons as much as possible. You can use other homes outside the comparative set to help with your arguments of quality if applicable; however, your price should be carefully cultivated to a similar home nearest to you as possible. This advice works well in a subdivision but once outside a subdivision then it can become tricky or if a home is an outlier. The same principles apply but you may need to increase your distance. However, a home is only worth the amount an arm’s length buyer (a buyer who doesn’t have an existing relationship with the seller) is willing to pay.
Stage your Home to Sell.
In today’s real estate market, home staging is important to almost imperative. I don’t mean virtually staging the home. Virtually staging may look great in the pictures; however, there is something to say about the physical or spatial presence of stuff. Buyers have a better sense of the home and the function of the spaces when lightly staged. Yup, you read correctly lightly staged. Minimal staging helps create the allusion to space and allows for the buyer’s imagination of “how they would use the space”. Not many people can imagine conceptually so empty homes don’t do particularly well. Homes that are not minimal can hamper buyers’ perception of the space making the home feel claustrophobic and small. What is worse the buyers focus on your stuff instead of the space and how they would live in it. The best advice is to hire someone who can create that minimal feel and help you declutter your home.
Storytelling a Crucial Piece in Marketing.
Professional photography of homes adds that bit of class to the marketing. It may be in the past that a singular picture of the front of the home was enough to have the property listed however that isn’t the case today. I look at listings as a story about the home. The pictures are living proof of how fantastic of a home it is. Storytelling takes many forms from the description of the property to the photos to, the now, the ability to create floor plans. It builds up the experience of seeing the home. Experience and the story about the home are the most effective marketing. We live for wonderful experiences. We buy the POTENTIAL.
Be Aware of Hurdles to Closing.
There always seems to be a challenge involved in the process of closing. It is a matter of when not if. It is all about how you react to the situation. Why do I recommend a home inspection (point 3 above)? Hopefully, we can address challenges head-on and, on your terms, instead of on the back foot and off balance. In my experience, disclosure helps by warding off the high-maintenance buyers. If the challenge causes the buyer to “pause” before writing a contract, then they aren’t worth the time to deal with because they will make the process much more unbearable. Non-disclosure can only lead to mistrust on the buying side, which hinders the negotiation process. Once you go from amicable to wary, it only makes the closing so much rougher.
Plan Your Move.
Do not wait until the last minute to plan your move. Moving companies don’t just materialize on a whim and some of them are booked pretty solid in advance. The objective is to get out as soon as possible before the closing date. The two main concerns for getting out before closing are insurance complications (you would need renters’ insurance for the time you occupy after closing) and the landlord/tenant rights that take effect after the home is transferred to the new owner (technically this isn't your home any longer). Moving out before closing is a preventative measure to some potentially large headaches. It may have worked “back in the day” to have possession after closing; however, today’s expectations of immediate possession make a much less mess for the seller. Sound advice is to be able to hand the keys to the new homeowner at closing.
Work in Good Faith Towards Closing.
Good Faith is to fulfill duties honestly and fairly and without fraudulent intent. If we all work towards the same goal, which is to sell the property to a new owner, the whole process goes smoothly. There are times when it doesn’t and most of it is when there is a question of the motives behind the behavior of the other party. Be aware that actions speak louder than words. Keep true to fulfilling the duties honestly and fairly without fraudulent intent and in the end it will all fall into place.