Pre-Listing Checklist for Selling Your Home

For most people, selling their home is the biggest undertaking that they will ever do. The amount of preparation and time required to successfully sell a home is often overlooked or underestimated when deciding to put your home on the market. I often tell my seller clients to be patient (when market condition/personal situation permits), investing a bit time and energy on preparation of the home, you would be rewarded. Having said that, I’ve put together a pre-listing checklist of things a seller should be aware of before putting their house up for sale. 

Finding a Realtor®

Find a Realtor® that you feel comfortable working with. Whether your house sells in the first week or not, you will be working closely with the Realtor®. Finding someone who not only is knowledgeable but also you are able to easily work with is a key step on our pre-listing checklist.

Cleaning

Your goal might be to get as much money for the property as possible. This means doing some cleaning and decluttering of the living areas. Making the space look as big as possible could attract more potential buyers and clutter just crowds a space and makes it look smaller and tighter. It is not uncommon for sellers to rent a storage unit to temporarily remove any extra items that are crowding the space. 

Fixing those issues

Now that the initial cleaning is done, you can see what needs to be fixed up, such as repainting walls to neutral tones and touching up any scuff marks. For anything that you can’t fix yourself, call a qualified handyman to get the job done right. Also, just don’t focus on the inside; you may also need to fix areas on the outside as well. After all, oftentimes, the exterior is the first thing a potential buyer will see, so you will want to make a good first impression.

Both cleaning and fixing those issues would make the property being well maintained and taken care of. Who doesn’t like that?

Staging the home

Once the home has been cleaned and all the items have been fixed, staging is the next step. To reduce the stress of the seller staging the house themselves, hiring a professional is always a good choice. Home stagers also have a keen eye for subtle touches you may not have thought of that will make the home more welcoming.  Either way, the seller should consider adding some plants which will make the space feel more homey and warm. Also, be sure to depersonalize the home. Put those family photos away. Potential buyers want to imagine themselves in a new space which is harder to do when there are someone else’s photos hanging up. Don’t forget to hide any valuables. There will be people walking through the house that you do not know, and you don’t want any temptations.

I offer my seller clients complimentary staging consultation and minor staging service. If you would like to know more, make sure you get in touch with me.

I’ve touched on a number of things to consider. Every home is unique and talking to a Realtor® will ensure that the pre-listing checklist will be completed, so that your home will be properly positioned for sale.