Six Musts Before You List Your Home

Deciding to list your home for sale is a momentous time. It means you will be moving on to a new stage of life, no matter if you’re moving up or sizing down. Take a moment to look over these tips for what every seller should do before they put their home on the market. Our tips and services as your Realtors should help minimize anxiety in the process, reduce your home’s time on the market, and secure the best sales price too.

Organize Your Paperwork: Every homeowner should have a detailed list of all past repairs, updates, and upgrades they’ve made. This will help us as your Real Estate Agent to know what should be mentioned when marketing your home to prospective buyers. Did you put on a new roof in 2010 or install a new water heater in 2009? These are great selling features because they mean less work in the future for the prospective buyer. Also included in this list should be any home warranty information. These warranties will most likely transfer with title of the home.

Get Ready to Declutter: Even before you’ve officially listed your home for sale you should start getting rid of things you don’t need. Starting now will mean a more thorough and less rushed job of clearing things out. Start with one closet and work your way through the entire home. Sort items to toss, keep, sell, and donate.

Having a yard sale is a wonderful way of making a little extra pocket change while reducing the amount of things you’ll have in your home during showings and that you’ll need to pack up and move. It’s a win-win! Here at the Stovall Team, we are happy to loan you Garage Sale Signs. Call us and we will deliver to you.

Clean, clean, and clean Some More: Dirty homes are a real buyer turnoff. Now is a great time wash down walls, spruce up paint, and give your entire home a thorough cleaning. Do your carpets need refreshing? Our suggestion is to hire a professional carpet cleaning company to come in and revamp your carpets. We can recommend a good and reasonable carpet cleaner. Buyers may ask for this anyway come closing time. You’ll beat them to the punch and have a shiny, sparkling home to show for it.

Get a Termite inspection prior to going on the market. Replacing and painting damaged wood will make your home look neat and tidy. A section one termite clearance is required many times as a lender condition. It’s always a good idea to know what your costs are beforehand. You may consider a Home Inspection before marketing, or simply walk the property with your agent to identify potential problem areas: Did you think Inspections were only for buyers? Having a pre-sale inspection can mean identifying problem areas. Perhaps you’re unaware that your foundation needs repaired. This will severely affect your listing price. It’s best to be prepared and realistic in today’s market.

Make Repairs or Get Estimates: Your inspection will likely leave you with a list of repairs, large and small, that need made. Keep in mind that prospective buyers will also get an inspection of your home and will find these same issues. Head them off at the pass and do some fixing up. You may wish to go ahead with large repairs. If not, be sure to at least get estimates so you are fully prepared for negotiations (you’ll know what the real cost should be) or should you can provide the estimates for buyers.

Start Staging: Staging is like prepping your home for its first date. You want to have it clean and well-dressed. This means ramping up curb appeal with neat landscaping, fresh paint, and flowers. It means rearranging furniture and removing clutter.
Congratulations on deciding to list your home for sale. Be proactive about making a good first step by following these tried and true tips. The Stovall Team always offers complimentary pre market staging tips and complimentary staging with each listing. Our Staging program has proven to achieve a higher net and a faster marketing time for every one of our sellers.

Call The Stovall Team today for your free evaluation.

By Steve Stovall