Home-Selling Checklist: 3 Things to Do Before Selling Your House

Selling a home can be a major headache. From prepping the home to creating the listing and managing open houses and offers, there’s a lot of work to do. Even so, there are some aspects of preparing your home that are more important to complete than others if you want to make a quick and painless sale. If you’re wondering to yourself, “How can I sell my house fast?” here are three things to keep in mind before you list.

Find an agent who will work hard

Be sure to always work with an agent who has your back. Some real estate agents are looking out for their own bottom line, while others have a clear passion for selling real estate and helping homeowners get the most for their house. You want a real estate agent who will stay in your corner and work long hours to ensure that your sale closes in a reasonable amount of time. When you’re meeting with various agents to determine who will be the best choice to represent you, make sure to ask them how long it usually takes them to close on a sale. Additionally, it may be worth asking for a few of their recent clients’ contact information so that you can reach out to others who have worked with the agent and can share their perspective. While this may seem like a lot of work, thoroughly vetting a real estate agent through online reviews, interviews, and conversations with past clients is a must if you want to sell your house quickly and efficiently.

Update your home’s appearance

While you don’t need to do a complete overhaul of your home in order to sell it, it is important to remember that your home’s appearance matters. When you’re conducting an open house, the people who come to look at your property will be judging every inch of your home and will be considering what changes they’ll need to make and how costly those will be should they decide to make an offer. You can help reduce the chances that buyers will be scared away by performing some simple updates throughout your home:

• Refresh appliances, especially in the kitchen and laundry rooms
• Repaint rooms with a neutral color
• Update the carpeting and refinish your hardwood floors
• Work with a roofing contractor to fix your roof and consider replacing your siding to improve curb appeal 

Price your home to sell

If your property is overpriced, you run the risk of having your home sit on the market for months or even years. Even worse, you may find yourself having to field multiple offers, when in actuality, you’d rather just have the home sell for your initial asking price. 

You may be able to underprice your home in an attempt to start a bidding war, which can be especially lucrative in highly-desirable areas of the country such as California. Take a look online to see what homes in your neighborhood are selling for and discuss what a fair asking price would be with your realtor  — they’ll have your back and make sure you can sell your house fast. 

While there’s plenty you can do to prepare to sell your home, the above three factors are the most vital. With a knowledgeable, experienced realtor at your side, a home with broad appeal, and a fair asking price, you’ll be able to sell your home in no time at all. So put in the work and find a local real estate agent who will put in the work for you.