Are you overwhelmed with the thought of all that needs to be done to put your home on the market? Maybe worried about getting enough out of your home for the next phase.
Preparing to sell a house can be a big undertaking and we all want to get the maximum price we can. We have spent the last few months getting ready to put our house on the market. The sign is officially up and we are ready. Preparing your house to sell can be broken down into steps and doesn’t have to be overwhelming with a plan. Taking time to prepare will pay off in the end.
We have done this before, our last house we spent 6 weeks getting it ready and it sold in 24 hours for asking price! This time around we have spent the last 6 months preparing to put it on the market (it is much bigger than our first house).
Here are the steps to use to prepare your home for sale:
#1 DECLUTTER – there is no surprise there as it is the number one thing you can do to make your home feel clean and spacious. Remove all excess stuff, reduce the amount of furniture in rooms and clear out those closets so they look like there is lots of room. Ideally you donate or sell all those extra things you don’t need or use. If you are planning to keep some of that stuff, temporarily you may need a small storage space to keep it for the next home. But I challenge you to let go of as much excess as possible. We are preparing to downsizing so we have let go of a lot of stuff. We have asked our kids what they want (and they wanted very little if anything) and we have donated van loads of things that will not be making the move with us. it feels to let it all go!
#2 STAGE for the type of home you have - From my experience most people have a hard time visualizing being in your home so your goal with staging your space is to set the scene so they can actually see how they would live there. A family home needs to be inviting to kiddos whereas a condo in Toronto needs to look professional.
Your goal is to take people on a journey when they view your house. Think from beginning to end what people will see when they visit and how they will flow through your space. Go on that journey yourself and do your best to see it with new eyes.
We have done some big ticket items that we had deemed necessary to make the feel of the place right - all new flooring on the main level and every room has had a fresh coat of paint. and we have done some rearranging to make the space flow better. Overall we are trying hard to look at it from someone elses perspective not our own.
#3 CLEAN – Clean everything, every nook and corner. Hire a cleaner if you have to. People see a sparkling clean home as something that has been well looked after and cared for. It goes a long way to getting your home sold.
#4 MENTALLY LET GO – This one is a hard one but before you put that sign up and start letting people come through your home it is important to mentally let go and be ready to move. Detaching as much as possible and thinking about the house being someone else’s is a great way to go into the selling process. My thought as we get ready is that this house belongs to someone else now, it is just waiting to meet them. It has been good to us but it is time for another family to fill the rooms with laughter and love.
Realtors will give you a huge list of what you need to do to sell, that is their job. The trick I believe is to do what you can – declutter, clean, stage the space as best you can. Hire someone to help if you cannot get it done yourself, the investment in preparing before you put it on the marker will go a long way in getting the best value out of it.
The goal is to make it feel appealing to the potential next owner so you can move on to the next stage! We are ready!! Are you?
