Getting Your Home Ready To Sell

Image by Gino Crescoli from Pixabay

I recently sold my house and moved into another place not far away. Even though I didn't have much decluttering to do and moved just 4 kilometres it was a major undertaking and took priority in my life for several months. During that time I did very little writing of any sort. However, the experience has given me plenty to write about now that I am getting back into the writing habit.

Selling your house is a major undertaking, especially if you have been living in the same house for many years, perhaps decades. It is an emotional time as well. Now that you have decided to sell and have signed up with a real estate agent, you want to do all you can to get a sale at an acceptable price. You probably want to sell quickly too. These days most real estate agencies provide vendors with plenty of tips for presenting their house to the best advantage and of course there are articles online.

You will come across some contradictory advice and what is the best approach will vary from one situation to another. However, it is generally agreed that the way you present your house needs to make it easy for potential buyers to picture themselves living the life they want in your house.

To make it easier for prospective buyers to imagine making your house their own -

• stick to a fairly neutral colour scheme
• pack away family photos
• pack away memorabilia
• get rid of clutter. This also makes rooms look bigger.

Show your house to its best advantage

There are things you can do to show your house at its best -

• make sure all light fittings have globes
• if necessary, replace dull light globes with brighter ones
• if you have taken the covers off lights which are part of an overhead fan, replace the covers. (Yes, I know this contradicts my point about having brighter lights, but it looks neater.)
• get rid of any cobwebs, inside and outside
• dust skirting boards, window sills, overhead fans etc
• clean walls, cupboard doors etc
• paint those doors, window frames etc you should have painted years before. (I am not a fan of painting and so left painting several doors until I wanted to put my house on the market. I suppose the advantage of leaving it so long was that the paint job was fresh with no scratches when I came to put the house on the market.)
• fix dripping taps, tighten loose door knobs and take care of other minor repairs
• tidy up your garden

Get advice from your real estate agent

Talk to your real estate agent and ask for advice about the best way to present your house for sale. They should have a better idea of what buyers are looking for and the current state of the market. They should know if it is worth outlaying big money to repaint your house or spend money on big ticket items.

Your agent will also be able to advise you about whether it is worth spending money to get your house professionally styled for photos and open inspections.

Get professional photos done

I think it was well worth the money I spent on professional photos of my house for advertising. The photographer knew what angle to take photos from to make the rooms look their best. She did an excellent job.

Selling a house is a major event so it is reassuring to have a real estate agent you are comfortable with and have confidence in. I found it reduced the stress of selling to be able to contact the agent for advice and I was so pleased they were able to negotiate a higher price than first offered by the buyer.