If you’re planning on selling your house anytime soon, make sure you do these nine things before putting that “for sale” sign up.
During the Spring of 2016, my life was consumed by getting our home ready to sell. I was purging, cleaning, mudding, sanding, painting, you name it! I was basically a contractor. I was exhausted! (This house project stuff stuff isn’t for wimps! It’s hard work)
Looking back caused me to realize there were a bunch of things I would’ve done differently. All of these will save you time and many headaches!
1. START EARLY
All those house projects I’d been procrastinating from completing quickly became overwhelming. Don’t wait until a few months before selling your house to cross them off the list. Start as soon as you know you’re moving…Even better, start now!
2. MAKE A LIST
Divide your to-do list into three categories: must be done, should get done and would be nice if they were done. This will help you decide what items are most important; things that a potential buyer would notice and be pleased with or turned off by.
3. PURGE
Grab yourself two boxes or bags; one labelled-Donate and the other-Trash. Go through each room and decide what you can part with. Be ruthless! Do you really need five winter coats? Seven black skirts? Keep one or two and get rid of the others. Purging will make it easier to see what needs to be done, and make your packing a million times easier. Less to pack=less work.
4. GET HELP
Call in all the favors from your family, friends or neighbors. Trust me, you need it. There will be more to do than you think there is. Don’t be afraid to ask! Most people are happy to help and will be glad you felt comfortable enough to ask.
Get help from a real estate agent that you trust to do a walk through and let you know what they think you need to fix up. Pick their brain as to what really matters when it comes to your project list. We were going to replace all of our carpet because it was old and there were some stains that wouldn’t come out. But, when we had our agent walk through, she advised against it because the new owners would probably replace the carpet anyways. Professional advice is golden and will save you time and money!
6. PAINT
Fresh paint makes a huge difference. I’m not saying you have to go completely neutral, like builders beige. Booorrring. Light to mid-tone blues, greens, grays and tans tend to be favorable to most. In our case, some of our rooms were painted by the previous owner in flat paint. Who does that?
Oh, and if you do paint…please, please, learn from my mistake and buy more painting supplies than you think you need. I can’t even tell you how much money I spent on roller pads, paint brushes, frog tape and so on. I could saved myself time and money if I’d purchased the 8 pack of tape, the 3 pack of rollers, etc. You’ll probably use the leftover supplies at your new house.
7. PACK UP SOME OF YOUR THINGS
I know you’re going to pack, you’re moving! But I mean, pack up some of your things now that you don’t need until after you move. This helps your house look more spacious and less cluttered, which will be more visually appealing to your potential buyer. You want your home to look lived in but if you have every closet and cupboard full of your things then the buyers are going to have a difficult time imagining how they can fit their things in those spaces. I packed up my summer clothes, because I knew it wouldn’t be warm enough to wear them before we moved.
This next tip is the most important-don’t skip it!
8. TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF
You have a lot of work to do. You’ll be dead on your feet pretty fast if you don’t get enough sleep, drink lots of water, eat right and take your vitamins. Also, pace yourself and take breaks. You need to give your body a breather to recharge a few times a day.
For your emotional health, make sure to do something that you enjoy so you don’t burn out. Get out of the house and go sit in the park, walk your dog or grab an ice cream with a friend. I think you’ll find when you return, you’ll be able to face your remaining projects with more energy and a fresh perspective. During all the house-selling prep, I took a break and went to the hot springs with my Mom. We relaxed in a 104F pool and man, did I feel refreshed afterwards.
Though it was very challenging, getting ready to sell our house was a good experience for me. I’ve learned that I can do some things I never imagined I was capable of; like painting my ceiling on a 15 foot ladder or getting really good at caulking!
I hope you learned some things from my experience that will help you and wish you good luck in finding your dream home and selling your current one!
Do you have some great tips for selling your house that I haven’t mentioned?
Share them in the comment section below to help all my readers!
WoW! I wanted to know some tips before selling my home. After reading this post, I am now all set to do the above-mentioned points so that I can sell my house quickly. Really useful tips Thanks.