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Preparing to Sell 

Preparation is key when it comes time to sell your home. Plan to be successful. It may sound too simple, but it is true. Not having a plan you believe in, or a plan at all, can yield undesirable results when selling a home. Just randomly calling an agent, even a friend, to stick a sign in the yard and some pictures on the web, may be risking one of your most important financial assets. If the time is approaching where you need to put your home up for sale, please take a moment and read through this online seller’s guide to learn how you can save time, reduce hassle, and net top dollar on the sell of your home. 

STEP 1 ::  Prepare Yourself

The first step to successfully selling your home is to prepare yourself and those who will be a part of the sale of your home. 
 

There is a story of a kid who was constantly hiding the real estate sign placed in his yard because he didn’t want to move. He loved his neighborhood friends, and what he was going through was already traumatic enough. His parents had just gone through a divorce and his mother had to sell the home because the payments were too much for her alone. This 9 year old was successful in keeping the house from selling. The real estate agent, probably very frustrated at the constant disappearance of his signs, kindly asked this single mother of three if she really wanted to sell the house. She said no and still lives there today. 

 
By the way, that was a good thing. If selling isn’t the best option for you and your loved ones, you should first explore all other possible avenues before placing your home on the market. Please call us today at 910-431-1655 if you need to sell but do not want to sell. We may be able to help you explore other options. If selling does make sense, there are two steps you can take to prepare you and your loved ones. 
 
Find closure. A home is more than a house. It is a place where memories are made. It is also symbolic of much sweat and tears. Owning real estate is one of the things that sets the United States apart from many other nations. Americans work hard to own homes they can enjoy with their families and loved ones. Realize that these memories are important and that they represent a season of your life. Take time to talk about the good times, the ugly times and the fun times with everyone who is living in your home. Give a chance for everyone to share what and who they will miss. Develop a plan for staying in touch with neighbors and friends that were made while living in the house. You will be amazed at how this will help everyone involved in the sale of your home become a team so that the sale is successful.
 
Get excited. Once you have processed the past, start getting excited about the future. If you haven’t already bought a new home, sit down with everyone and start making a wish list. This list will be beneficial in two ways. First, everyone will begin to get a vision of the future and why selling the house is a good thing. Second, this list will be helpful when it comes time to meet with a Realtor® to help you find your next dream home. Turn the sale of this home from a sad ending to an exciting new adventure!
 
Making sure everyone is involved is important, because selling a home is a team effort. Everyone must be on board. And when everyone is on board, selling a home can actually be fun! 

[For more great tips to help your loved ones prepare for the sale of your home, click here to request our 20 Tips for Helping Your Loved Ones Prepare for Selling]

STEP 2 ::  Prepare Your Home

If you follow the first step, the second step will be much easier. You will need all hands on deck. Preparing your home isn’t just about staging. It starts with your mindset – how you see your home. During this step, your home must become a house. You now have to view this house as a product you are going to sale. You want to make sure it is the best product on the market in your price range. 
 
There are three levels to preparing your house before you put it on the market. How far you take the preparation of your house depends on your available resources. Preparing your house will take time, money, and people. Only you know how much you have of each. Following the steps below will help you decide how far you want to go in preparing your home to sell. The three levels outlined below are taken from the book, FLIP, which is written by veteran investors and senior executives of HomeFixers, North America’s leading real estate rehab franchise. They have sold 1000s of homes and are clearly experts in preparing a house for the market.
 
Must Do’s. These are the problems you must take care of. Walk through your house and ask “Is everything functioning in its intended purpose?” Today, most buyers order a home inspection and have contingencies in their offer to purchase contract that states they can walk away from a house if certain parts of the house are not functioning in their intended use. Also, when buyers walk through a home and see problems, many will take your home off of their list in fear that there will be many more problems that they can’t see. Taking care of these problems before placing the house on the market will be well worth the time and money. If you are not handy with tools, there are many handyman services that will come out and fix these problems for you. Click Here for a free download
 
Should Do’s. How well do you know your neighborhood? The should do’s are the finishing touches you should do in order for your house to be up to neighborhood standards. There is a risk with this level of preparation. You can overimprove or underimprove your house if you don’t know what the neighborhood expects of your house. The authors of FLIP have outlined four design levels to help you gauge the standard finish your house should have. It is also important to understand the level of finishes that buyers in the current market are seeing in your price range. To learn more about understanding neighborhood norms and buyers’ expectations, continue reading through this online seller’s guide or click here to set up a Free No-obligation Seller’s Consultation.
 

Could Do’s. This level of improvement should be approached with caution. The same holds true with could do’s in that you could overimprove your home. There is also the issue of quality work.  (Because of the complex nature of these improvements, you may need to consult a general contractor before attempting this level.)  In the could do’s level of improvement, you want to look for untapped potential that will give your home the wow factor. This would include adding amenities that would make the house more comfortable and convenient to live in like an automatic sprinkler system for the lawn or built in seating in the kitchen. It would also include major changes to the house like opening up a room by removing walls, adding an additional bedroom, converting unfinished space into livable square footage or completely remodeling the layout of a kitchen or a bathroom. Before attempting any of these changes, please read the next step, “Preparing with Professionals”.

 
There is one final step in preparing your home. Staging. Staging is a fancy way of saying, “make your house look like no one lives in it.” In order to stage your home, it is essential to remove as much clutter as possible. Also, decorating and interior design tips are helpful. To get our free guide on how to Stage your home and get top dollar, Click Here. 

 

STEP 3 ::  Prepare with Professionals

Some of the richest individuals on the planet have made millions in real estate. These individuals will tell you they do not know everything there is to know about real estate. Millionaire real estate investors all agree that success in real estate is always a team sport. It takes a team of specialized professionals to be successful in buying and selling real estate. These professionals make it their business to know certain aspects of real estate and provide their services to you so that you can make the very best decisions. As you prepare yourself and your home for the marketplace, there are three professionals you will want to consider consulting during the preparation phase.

 
Realtor. A good Realtor can help you get your home in top selling condition. A service Walt Dowdy provides is a FREE Home Preparation Consultation. Walt Dowdy will come to your house and help you identify areas of improvement to enhance your home’s selling features. The benefit of this service is that it will keep you from overimproving and underimproving your home. Having an outside objective opinion is important. Realtors walk through many homes and are constantly studying buying preferences. Don’t plan alone. You will want to call to set up a Free Home Preparation Consultation today 910-431-1655.
 
Home Inspector. More and more, sellers are hiring home inspectors to pre-inspect their home before placing it on the market. Traditionally, home inspections are ordered by buyers. When you order a home inspection prior to listing your property, you have the chance to fix any problems that may be there. This can help prevent a contract from falling through at the 11th hour and lets prospective buyers know that your home is in good condition. For a free list of our favorite home inspectors, click here.
 
Interior Designer. Interior Designers are masters of space and style. They are experts at seeing how to maximize awkward small spaces while adding aesthetically pleasing styles. An Interior Designer can consult you on how make your home more functional, clutter free, and visually pleasing. Buyers will walk into your home and not want to leave. A well staged model home is a key strategy builders use to sells hundreds and thousands of homes. Don’t underestimate the power of staging. For a free list of excellent local interior designers, click here.