Throw a for-sale sign in the yard? Grab your home\u2019s value from an online estimator? Hire your cousin who happens to do real estate on the side?<\/p>\n
You\u2019ve got a running list in your notepad titled \u201cquestions about selling my house\u201d and now you just want answers.<\/p>\n
As a first-time seller, you need a reliable source who\u2019s been through one of these big deals a time or two (or several hundred) before. It\u2019s a tangle of contracts, you have to make the bed every day, and there\u2019s a whole lot of money on the line.<\/p>\n
Dan Edwards<\/a>, a top real estate agent in Bellevue, Washington who\u2019s sold 68% more real estate than agents in his area, shares his insights into sellers\u2019 most frequently asked questions\u2026 because it turns out, newbies tend to have the same ones\u2014let\u2019s go through each one!<\/p>\n Before you ever put your home up for sale, find a real estate agent<\/a> to be your objective set of eyes. A professional will do a walkthrough and point out the projects to complete before listing, must-do repairs, and easy ways to spruce up the space.<\/p>\n Some houses need more TLC<\/a> than others before you can unveil them for their big market debut, but two general rules of thumb apply when it comes to prepping your home for sale<\/a>:<\/p>\n Take down family photos from the fridge, clear off every countertop, put away knick-knacks and personal items, and let the house breathe<\/em> a little.<\/p>\n You want buyers to feel like your house is big and open, rather than cramped and cluttered.<\/p>\n Make your limited square footage go further with a solid purge. Go all KonMari method on your stuff<\/a> if you\u2019re the hoarder type.<\/p>\n Rent a shipping container or a storage unit while your home is up for sale \u2014 that way, if you\u2019re not willing to part with your belongings, you can at least get it out of sight for showings.<\/p>\n It\u2019s estimated that clearing up clutter can increase your home\u2019s asking price by 3-5%<\/a>.<\/p>\n Think your gorgeous, fully renovated house in an attractive location will sell no matter its condition?<\/p>\n Think again\u2026a dirty home immediately drops in value in the minds of buyers taking a tour of your messy life.<\/p>\n Scrub the floors. Buy air fresheners. Dust the bookshelves. Deep clean the carpet. Wash the windows. Don\u2019t miss a spot with our deep house cleaning checklist<\/a>.<\/p>\n A real estate agent can also save you from pouring time and money into unnecessary projects. Ready to drop a bunch of money on a kitchen remodel before you sell?<\/p>\n Stop right there! Not all renovations or updates (especially the big ones) show a positive return on investment<\/a>, and there\u2019s no guarantee you\u2019ll make back the money you spend.<\/p>\n An agent who\u2019s a local expert in your neighborhood will know what buyers are looking for and how your home compares to others on the block.<\/p>\n Home staging helps buyers envision themselves living in your home, which can inspire them to make offers.<\/p>\n Real estate experts stand behind staging as an effective way to decrease your time on market and help your house sell for more money<\/a>.<\/p>\n The living room<\/a> and master bedroom<\/a> are the most important rooms to stage, and with guidance from your real estate agent, staging doesn\u2019t have to cost a fortune<\/a>. If you\u2019ve properly cleaned and decluttered, you\u2019ve already done much of the required work.<\/p>\n If your agent recommends it, hire a stager who will bring in furniture and design pieces to show all your home has to offer.<\/p>\n Professional help can be especially useful if you\u2019ve already moved out and your home is vacant. An empty house is the most difficult for buyers to picture themselves moving into.<\/p>\n Edwards does ask his clients to purchase a pre-inspection<\/a> before they list.<\/p>\n This gives you a heads up as the seller about what will come up on a buyer\u2019s home inspection during the closing process. The reasoning is…fewer surprises make for less stress, and for a more expedient sale.<\/p>\n After the pre-inspection, you can preemptively fix anything that has an inconvenience factor, like the garage window that\u2019s broken. Little maintenance problems will trigger the buyer to think about what else in the house needs repair.<\/p>\n Now\u2019s not the time to redo the bathroom, but small home improvement projects can yield big returns<\/a>. \u201cPaint is the cheapest,\u201d Edwards says, recommending it if the inside of the home hasn\u2019t been repainted in a while. It\u2019s an easy and inexpensive facelift.<\/p>\n However, be aware: you\u2019ll have to disclose any material defects that come up in the pre-inspection to buyers upfront, in writing.<\/p>\n That puts pressure on your to remedy big problems before you book showings. Buyers might be more willing to negotiate with you on issues that arise if they\u2019re already under contract.<\/p>\n Once your home is on the market, it\u2019s your agent\u2019s job to promote it to the most buyers and book as many showings as possible. This means\u2014if you\u2019re lucky and have a good agent\u2014your house will be like Grand Central Station the first week it\u2019s on the market.<\/p>\n Edwards tells his seller clients to just get out of town for the first week. Go on a vacation.<\/p>\n If your home is on the market for longer, yes, you need to leave the house when there are showings. Take pets with you\u2014no exceptions!<\/p>\n The act of leaving is partly to depersonalize. A buyer wants to buy their next home, not your last one. Buyers also need to be able to speak freely and not feel like they are overstaying if they want to take their time.<\/p>\n You might feel like it\u2019s just a house\u2026 how hard can this be?<\/p>\n Well, some sellers opt to go the For Sale by Owner (FSBO) route (though they accounted for only 8% of homes sales in 2017<\/a>), but Edwards says after he\u2019s helped a client through the selling process and it\u2019s all done, he often gets this comment from clients: \u201cI couldn\u2019t have done this all without you.\u201d<\/p>\nWhat do I need to do to prep my home for sale?<\/h2>\n
Declutter and organize room by room<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Clean like you would for company, times 100.<\/h3>\n
Do I need to stage my home?<\/h2>\n
Should I get a pre-inspection before listing my home?<\/h2>\n
Do I need to leave my house for showings?<\/h2>\n
Do I need a real estate agent?<\/h2>\n