{"id":12437,"date":"2026-02-10T04:19:23","date_gmt":"2026-02-10T12:19:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/?p=12437"},"modified":"2026-02-12T20:50:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-13T04:50:07","slug":"tips-for-selling-a-historical-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/tips-for-selling-a-historical-home\/","title":{"rendered":"10 Tips for Selling Your Historical Home to the Right Buyer"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>From choosing renovations wisely to highlighting your property\u2019s one-of-a-kind history, there are a number of important details to consider when selling a historical home.<\/p>\n<p>Whether you\u2019re selling an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.antiquehomesmagazine.com\/historic-style-guide\/greek-revival\/\">1850s Greek Revival<\/a> or a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.essentialhome.eu\/blog\/ultimate-guide-mid-century-modern-architecture\/\">1950s Mid-century Modern<\/a>, it\u2019s your home\u2019s unspoiled character that\u2019s going to help it sell for every penny it\u2019s worth \u2014 despite any preservation restrictions that may come with the property. The key is to create a sales strategy as unique as your home, quirks and all.<\/p>\n<p>To walk through the do\u2019s and don\u2019ts of selling your special slice of history, we\u2019ve rounded up 10 top tips from a historic home restorer, and a seasoned real estate pro who sells classic homes out of Philly \u2014 the 12th oldest city in the U.S.<\/p>\n<p>Their first piece of advice? Find the right expert to help you sell your historic home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n<div class=\"geo-cta widget-cta widget-cta--content     widget-cta--dark widget-cta--dark-blue-gradient\">\n    <div class=\"widget-element--content\">\n        <div class=\"widget-element--content-header\">\n            <img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"homelight logo\" class=\"widget-element--logo\" src=\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/wp-content\/themes\/ccprototypev5\/images\/logo-small-cta.png\" width=\"106\" height=\"25\" \/>\n        <\/div>\n        \n                <h3 class=\"cta-headline widget--bold\">Find an Agent Who Can Sell Your Historical Home<\/h3>\n                        <p>Your home is unique. You need more than an average agent to market it correctly and get you a top-dollar sale. Connect with a proven agent who has the experience to sell your historical home.<\/p>\n        \n                <div class=\"widget-element--buttons\">\n            <a data-type=\"In Content CTA\" href=\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/find-agent\/quiz\/seller?#\/qaas=0\/\" class=\"cta-click-track widget-element--button\">Find an Agent<\/a>\n        <\/div>\n                    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<div id=\"section--1\" data-toc-header=\"Tip #1: Find an agent who understands how to sell historic houses\" data-toc-type=\"head\"><\/div>\n<h2>Tip #1: Find an agent who understands how to sell historic houses<\/h2>\n<p>If you\u2019ve ever sold a modern home, you know the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/how-to-get-house-ready-to-sell\/\">home prep<\/a> drill: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/how-to-clean-out-a-house-to-sell\/\">clean<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/declutter-to-sell-house\/\">declutter<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/what-color-should-i-paint-my-house\/\">repaint<\/a> in neutral colors, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/how-to-price-your-home-to-sell-quickly\/\">price it right<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/house-for-sale-facebook-marketplace\/\">list it<\/a> on the web, and get it sold. A solid strategy for most homes, but this isn\u2019t a one-size-fits-all solution for historic homes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou need to find an agent who understands historic houses and the people who love them,\u201d says Scott T. Hanson, historic home restorer, architectural historian, and author of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Restoring-Your-Historic-House-Comprehensive-dp-1684751160\/dp\/1684751160\/\">Restoring Your Historic House: The Comprehensive Guide for Homeowners<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Nearly every aspect of a historic home sale process requires a specialized strategy. Before settling on an agent to represent your home, make sure they are the type of expert you need by asking a few preliminary questions:<\/p>\n<h3>What experience do you have selling historic houses?<\/h3>\n<p>Listen to see whether the agent sounds passionate about their past historic home sales and whether they can speak to several specific examples (\u201cOh, I sold this beautiful 1840 Victorian over on the west side last year\u2026\u201d).<\/p>\n<p>Better yet, ask the agent for their stats. How many historic homes have they sold? What percentage of their yearly home sales are comprised of historic homes? You want an agent who\u2019s done more than just a one-off sale 10 years ago. With firm numbers, you can tell if selling historic properties makes up a good chunk of their business.<\/p>\n<h3>What\u2019s your strategy for preparing historic homes for the market?<\/h3>\n<p>With this question, you want to hear the agent\u2019s pre-listing process. Look for an agent who asks questions about your home and insists on a home walkthrough before scheduling any contractors.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s a red flag if the agent says something like, \u201cWell, just as I would prepare any home,\u201d or starts rattling off real estate cliches about white paint and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/depersonalize-the-house\/\">depersonalizing<\/a>. (For example, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/should-i-repaint-my-house-before-selling\/\">neutral colors<\/a> are often the right call for modern homes, but put eggshell walls throughout a historic home with original dark-stained woodwork, and it\u2019ll look stark and heavy).<\/p>\n<p>The ideal agent will carefully guide you through a tailored home prep strategy that honors your home\u2019s character, style, and special characteristics.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A historic home restorer and a real estate pro who sells old homes in Philly offer their best tips for selling a historical home.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":252,"featured_media":50085,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[323,319],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12437","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-quick-tips","category-selling-advice"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.0 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>10 Tips for Selling Your Historical Home to the Right Buyer<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A historic home restorer and a real estate pro who sells old homes in Philly offer their best tips for selling a historical home.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link 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