Selling a home to move onto a new one is something that most of us end up doing eventually. While a few homes are labelled as starter homes, most homes we hope to stay in for many years, but sometimes life has other plans.
When more bedrooms are needed or even when looking to downsize, it’s time to prepare to sell it. Prepare your home for a successful sale with these four valuable tips! Find expert advice on how to get your home ready for the market by visiting their post on eXp Realty’s comprehensive guides.
Declutter and Depersonalise It
While we all wish to personalise our homes when we’re living in them, it makes it difficult to sell them later. Unfortunately, potential buyers indeed lack imagination. When there’s too much of your ‘stuff’ evident everywhere, they find it hard to imagine themselves living there. Also, it reminds them that they’re essentially buying a “second-hand” home. This might be something they’d not do with a less expensive item but need to do with a residential home. So, declutter and remove some degree of personalisation to let them see themselves in the space.
Fix Existing Problems
Fixing teething problems at home might have been something that you’ve previously been too busy to deal with. If this is still the case, then hire in some contractors with a list of what needs to get done. Otherwise, it will become an impediment to a listing.
Whether the taps in the bathroom have always been leaking, a bathroom floor tile is sticking up at the corner, or the front door lock works inconsistently, get it resolved. Otherwise, these will likely need to be declared when listing the property for sale. Then some potential buyers will be disappointed, and others will wish to discount their offer accordingly.
Enhance the Value
There are still some opportunities to enhance the value of the home before putting it on the market. This is especially true if you’re edging bit by bit towards listing it and only have an eye to doing it in a handful of years when the family is large enough to require it. In which case, you might wish to add features that your family can enjoy now and that will make it more attractive when it does come time to sell.
What to change or update depends on the home you have today. For instance, if the kitchen is outdated, then replacing it will cost a fair bit of money and inconvenience, but it will avoid many buyers seeing this as a major problem and not making an offer. Alternatively, if you feel that a fireplace would be an attractive feature, then look at the ones shown on sites like stonewoods.co.uk. A new fireplace could make the living room stand out from other listings.
Temper Your Expectations on Price
Currently, markets are frothy and there are enough buyers for the properties on the market. However, that can change at any time.
Without hiring someone to represent your home, see if you can find some comps from recent sales in the same street or adjacent one. If they have a similar square footage/metre, it can provide a good indicator of what to expect in the future.
Whether you’re looking to sell soon or only have an eye to doing so in the not-too-distant future, preparing for it is beneficial. Certainly, it avoids having too much to do right before listing it and delaying doing so as a result.
