Whether this is your first time selling a home or the fifth, it’s critical to educate (or re-educate) yourself on what practices best attracts buyers and sets you up for success. Remember, you’re selling a product, not all of the memories you’ve created in the home. Follow these basics of home selling to put your home’s best foot forward.
DOs
1. Declutter and depersonalize every room. Get rid of knick knacks, collections of books gathering dust, and extra pieces of furniture that crowd the room. Buyers are attracted to clean and clear spaces, not cluttered ones that make rooms look junky or small. Pack away family photos and heir looms. You want buyers focusing on seeing themselves live there, not your family. Don’t distract your buyers from thinking about making a life in your home.
2. Organize closets and cabinets. Buyers need to see how much storage space exists behind those closet doors. Give them a nice, neat impression in the kitchen with mug handles facing the same direction. And in the bedroom closet, face your shoes the same way and organize clothing by color. Donate and trash items that you no longer need so that you aren’t crowding up your storage areas.
3. Remove and replace favorite items. Planning on keeping the dining room chandelier and those exotic curtains bought on another continent? Remove and replace any favorite item before letting buyers in your home. Buyers may love something you own that appears attached to the house and can turn it into a deal breaker if you don’t let them have it.
4. Make minor repairs. Patch up holes in the wall. Fix doors and drawers that don’t close properly. Replace burned out lightbulbs. Fix leaky faucets and hissing toilets. Consider painting bold colored rooms a neutral color.
5. Clean from top to bottom. Make all windows sparkle inside and out. Keep all surfaces clear of dust and free of cob webs. Vaccuum daily. Re-caulk tubs, showers, and sinks. Bleach dingy grout. Make the house shine! Hang up fresh hand towels in kitchens and bathrooms, and use clean, well-maintained spreads on beds.
DON’TS
1. Don’t get emotionally involved. Selling is a business transaction. Distance yourself from the emotional attachments to your home and focus on the financial perspective. Many buyers will be emotional about their purchase, so you need to keep a rational mind about what is important in a negotiation and what isn’t.
2. Don’t set an unrealistic price. Your real estate agent should have done a thorough comparative market analysis of your home before putting it on the market. Savvy buyers viewing your home will have done the same homework on homes in your area. Overpricing has been proven to hurt sale prices in the long run. Homes that are priced right the first time sell faster and usually for higher amounts than homes that started too high and had to drop the price several times. Buyers perceive too many drops in price as if something is wrong with the house—so they either ignore the house or present lowball offers.
3. Don’t settle for poor photography. Online photography matters. Excellent photos bring showing appointments. Rooms should have plenty of natural light and be clear of all clutter. The photos should be crisp, clear, and plentiful. There are so many poorly done photos online that this simple but significant step will help set you apart from the competition.
4. Don’t try to hide significant problems. The buyer’s home inspection will likely uncover whatever you might be hiding, in which case you’re in a lousy position to negotiate price. There are three typical options to consider regarding a significant issue with your home (1) fix the problem before putting your home on the market; (2) price the property below market value to account for the problem; (3) price your home at market value but offer a monetary credit for the problem.
5. Don’t make showings hard to schedule. Sometimes it’s inconvenient to get your house ready in time for a requested showing. Resist the urge to reschedule. Oftentimes buyers are on tight schedules and will skip your house altogether if you don’t make it available. They have to see it to buy it. Be accommodating as often as possible. Your goal is to sell.
6. Don’t assume you can only sell in the spring. Especially in a market where there are more buyers than sellers, you don’t have to wait until the prime selling season to find a buyer. Homes are sold all year round. And you’ll find that people searching in the fall and spring tend to be more serious buyers.