The Ultimate Preparing Your Home for Sale Checklist: Ready, Set, Sold

Are you ready to put your house on the market? Unsure what you need to do to make sure you get great offers? Well, this handy preparing your home for sale checklist will help you get ready.

Putting your home on the market requires a lot more than telling a realtor to list it. There are many things that you can do that will make your house more appealing. They will also help you get your full asking price.

If you don’t prep your home before trying to sell it, you are almost certainly going to miss out on potentially thousands of dollars. So, read on to learn about the most important things you can do when preparing to sell.

1. Price to Market

The number one thing to consider when preparing your home for sale checklist is to work out the best price for your home. Do your research on local listings that are similar to your house. Use online tools such as Zillow, Trulia, Redfin, and Realtor.com.

Conduct a search around your home on those websites to see what other homes like yours are priced at. You want yours to reflect the right value. You also want it to be competitive.

Don’t price it too cheap, or people will assume something is wrong with it. Don’t overprice it, or you’ll put potential buyers off.

2. Choose Your Realtor Carefully

When you start your preparing your home for sale checklist, you’ll need to think about a realtor. Your first decision will be whether you want to try to sell it yourself or use a realtor. If you decide to use a realtor, choose carefully.

Again, do your research. Picking a realtor is a big deal. You want someone with a good reputation and sales history, but you also need to feel comfortable working with them.

Ask for references, and check online to see what kind of reviews they may have had. Talk to your shortlist to see if you get a good vibe from them.

3. Have Professional Photos Taken

Don’t take photos on your cell phone. The results won’t do your home justice. They will make it harder to sell.

Ask your realtor for recommendations about professional home photographers. It’s worth the money because these photos will be the first things people see when they search online. You want to make a great first impression.

Professional photographers will also know how to set up the shot best to maximize the feel and space. They will also have a sense of what kind of photos help sell a house.

4. Update Paint

If you love bright, bold colors, it might be time to think about toning things down. Not everyone will have the same aesthetic as you.

Going with neutral, soft tones won’t scare anyone off. These colors will also help showcase the room, especially if it is a little dark in there.

Paint is a cheap and relatively easy thing to add to your preparing your home for sale checklist.

5. Do Minor Repairs

All those little fixes you’ve been putting off for years? Time to add them to your preparing your home for sale checklist.

Look for pet scratches, holes in the wall, and lightbulbs that need replacing. Got a sticky door? Fix that up quick.

You don’t need to spend a lot of time and money on these minor repairs. But if you don’t do them, it makes the buyer think you haven’t taken care of your home. That will lead them to question whether there are major concerns they can’t see as easily.

Don’t lose your sale because you couldn’t be bothered to screw the light switch face plate back on properly!

6. Time to Update

A more significant thing to put on your preparing your home for sale checklist is a major update. If you’ve lived in your home for a long time, it could well be a while since you last did a big update.

If your kitchen or bathroom are looking dated, an update can make a big difference in how easily you sell your home.

Another thing to look at is your roof. When was the last time the shingles were replaced? If it was twenty years ago and there is obvious wear and tear, you might need to replace them.

Buyers will see these big projects and think about the cost to them. They will almost certainly reflect that cost in their offer.

It might seem backwards to update your home just before selling it, but if you don’t, you’re going to find it much harder to move on to your own new dream home. Renovate before selling and help your chances of finding the perfect buyer.

7. Clean Everything

When you have a home visit from a potential buyer, the last thing you want them to see is a dirty house. So, it’s time to clean. And we mean really clean.

This isn’t just your usual weekly vacuum and sweep. It’s time to make your home shine. Show potential buyers how the house looks when it’s spotless.

Remember, first impressions do count. If your house is dirty or smells when someone walks in, they will notice. Just like with minor repairs, a home that isn’t clean makes the buyer wonder what else hasn’t been looked after.

8. Remove Personal Items

You’re preparing your home for sale checklist should also include things to do right before you have a showing. One of these items is to make your home look a little less like a shrine to your family and friends. Reducing the personalization of a home will help buyers visualize themselves in the space.

Remove things like family photos, keepsakes, or “stuff” that you just had to buy to remind you of that vacation. The less clutter and personal things lying around, the easier it will be for the buyer to think about what they would put in that space.

9. Stage Your House

You don’t have to call in a professional stager to get your home ready for showings. But you do need to think about what it looks like and have it ready to show at any time.

Make the beds. Do the dishes and put them away. Have a nice-smelling candle going.

Your preparing your home for sale checklist should also include things like arranging the pillows on your couches. Add a fresh bunch of flowers to the dining room table. Oh, and turn all your lights on before the showing!

A Good Preparing Your Home for Sale Checklist Is Worth It

As you can see, it’s worth creating a preparing your home for sale checklist because there are a lot of things you need to make sure you do. If you don’t prep your home, it’s going to look to buyers as though you don’t care. That will make them cautious about making an offer on your home.

Taking the time to find the right realtor, to make long-planned updates, and to stage your home will make all the difference when buyers come looking. You can’t undo a bad first impression of a house. Buyers will just walk away!

For more great tips about improving your home, whether it’s for sale or not, check out our website.