Whether you’ve already found a better home for you and your family or things didn’t work out with your spouse and you chose to sell your property before the divorce, getting your house ready to sell might seem like a hard task. Many home sellers ask “Do You Have to Clean a House Before Selling?” the answer is YES! However, there are steps you can take to increase your chances of getting a solid offer from a potential buyer. Keep reading to learn how to get your home ready to sell by following some great tips. When Do You Have to Clean a House Before Selling? It depends on what you are trying to do. Cleaning your house before selling is important in most cases but cleaning you House Before Selling may be more important than you think…
How to Get Your House Ready to Sell
1. Research your local housing market
First, make sure to know the value of your home in the market. Pay attention to features and location, you can even look at comparable sales in your neighborhood to figure out the appropriate listing price for your home. Also, remember that a reputable realtor should assist you to determine a listing price for your house.
2. Find a listing Agent
We highly recommend getting a professional real estate agent to list your home to make a quick sale. When you interview them, make sure to ask about connections to potential buyers, social media expertise, and their experience in your neighborhood. This realtor should also tell you their plan for putting the house on market and sell your house fast.
3. Buy more light bulbs
It might seem simple; however, this is another important item on your getting house ready to sell checklist. While showing your house to potential buyers, all lamps and light fixtures must be turned on, so all of them should be working properly. You want everyone to see how neat your house looks and what a great home it will be for their future owners.
4. Give your house a DEEP clean
Do you have to clean a house before selling it? Absolutely! Remember that first impressions mean a lot, so you have to get rid of any dusty surface, all spots on the floors, and foul smells. Do you have to clean a house before selling it and throughout the selling process? You definitely do! You must give your home a deep clean before AND throughout the selling process. With deep clean, we also refer to mopping floors, cleaning toilets, wiping down surfaces, scrubbing bathrooms, and cleaning rugs. To make sure your place is spotless, consider calling in the professionals.
5. Declutter the home
Does a clean house before selling it gives a good impression? Yes, and don’t forget that order is part of that good impression! Make sure to organize and declutter your home. Just as the previous tip, it’s an essential thing to do when it comes to getting your home ready to sell. Potential buyers must be able to focus on the actual home instead of the junk and overflowing closets.
6. Call a handyman
Don’t forget to make sure that everything works, and have your handyman on speed dial to fix anything that doesn’t work properly. Consider locks, leaky faucets, hardware, cracks in the walls, broken appliances, running toilets, squeaky doors, etc. If potential buyers think that your home hasn’t been well taken care of, they could lose interest quickly.
7. Paint the walls
If you’ve always wanted to get rid of those bright orange and green colors over your walls, now it’s the time to do it. Choose neutral colors, such as whites, light beiges, and light grays. These colors will help your house look brighter, bigger, and way more welcoming.
8. Stage your home
Staging your home is another thing you can do when getting your home ready to sell. Luckily, it’s affordable and easy to stage your home’s interior. Cleaning your home is highly important, and that also includes the exterior. Remember to spruce up your home’s curb, as the home’s outside is actually the first thing potential buyers will see when visiting your home. Make sure the yard is landscaped, the grass is cut, and there’s no junk. You could also add a fresh coat of paint to the exterior walls if your home looks a bit rundown.
9. Hire a professional photographer
As several potential buyers search for homes online, high-quality pictures are essential. You don’t want your loving home to be overlooked just because pictures weren’t that good, so make sure to hire a professional to take the best shots. Realtors should be able to help you with finding a skilled photographer, so remember to ask them who they work with when interviewing real estate agents.
10. Rent a storage unit
Considering that decluttering and cleaning your house is essential when getting your home ready to sell, a temporary storage unit would be helpful. This temporary storage unit will give you a place for your extra stuff.
11. Depersonalize your home
Being able to find an excellent balance between depersonalization and creating a warm, welcoming home, is an important part of getting your home ready to sell. This means you should only leave a few nice, framed photos around the house to make it look nice and cozy.
Ready to Move?
Considering that selling a house before buying a new place has its advantages, this is probably why you were so interested in preparing your home all along. After cleaning it, putting it on the market, and selling it, moving it’s all that’s left. Congrats and best luck!