5 Ways to Prep Your Home If You Plan to List This Year
You’ve decided 2025 is your year to sell to your home. Excellent. What now?
Let’s break it down into five areas which are manageable, tangible and make a real difference.
Have A Plan
First, have a plan to be able to get from where you are to where you want to be and hire the right people to help navigate the path to get there. The “right” people can help you form that plan and it usually starts with an honest, experienced real estate advisor who can not only guide you through many of the points made below but who can connect you with other professionals such as lawyers, accountants, landscapers, contractors for interior and exterior work as needed and, if you’re moving to another town, state or country, connect you with a trusted real estate advisor in that area.
Know Your Numbers
Second, know your numbers and the market. Understand your own financials, how much the sale of your home will likely net you and how much cash can go towards the purchase of your next property. It's vital to understand if you're in a buyer's market or a seller's market as that will dictate how aggressive to be with pricing and, to some extent, how long it may take to get to the closing table. It's also important to know the other properties that will be your competition. Once you've identified proper comps, and this should be one of over a hundred things your agent does for you, you'll want to work together to decide on pricing and other ways to make your home stand out.
Polish It Up
Third, make the outside pretty. Curb appeal is huge. Pulling up to a home with a vibrant exterior not only gives buyers the warm feeling that your home could be one they would be proud to own but it also gives them confidence that the home itself has been taken care of. Fresh mulch, flowers and plants, a power washed driveway, clean windows, touched up exterior paint, a clean roof and gutters and a solid mailbox go a long way. Oh, and make sure to have the grass cut for the first days on the market.
Be Smart About the Inside
Fourth, be smart about the inside. Decluttering and cleaning are no-brainers. Less is more so remove most items from your kitchen and bathroom counters before pictures. As for family photographs and personal items, you don't necessarily have to remove all of them but you do want a prospective buyer to be able to envision themselves and their family living in the home. Once clean and tidy, professional photography is a must and you should question any agent who takes pics with their phone. Matterport tours, drone shots and dynamic video will really help buyers get a feel for a property long before they step foot inside so find a real estate advisor who is onboard with this.
If the home is vacant and without furniture, staging has been shown to sell homes faster and for more money. Lastly, does your home pass the smell test? Obviously bad smells can be an instant turn off for buyers but so can fragrances that are meant to smell good if they're too strong.
Objectivity Is Key
And fifth, be as objective as possible. Keep the big picture in mind. As best you can, detach yourself emotionally from the home and try to think of this as a business transaction. We're all human and we tend to think our homes are more valuable than they really are due to our emotional attachment. If that's the case for you, put yourself in the buyer's shoes and view things from their standpoint. This may help with proper pricing and understanding any qualms. To go a step further, I recommend fixing or disclosing as many material facts as possible before hitting the market. This may seem counterintuitive but it will breed confidence and a sense that you, as the seller, can be trusted. I've seen the opposite approach have devastating effects.
In the end, buyers and sellers want the same thing - to be at the closing table and feel like they got a good deal. Make a plan to get there with the right people and you'll be glad you did.
To further discuss how we can prep your home to list in 2025 (the busy Spring season is right around the corner!), please don't hesitate to reach out. With years of experience, dozens of satisfied clients, and a network of professionals at his fingertips, Pete Anderson is here to guide you through your next transaction.
Categories
Recent Posts
