Selling a home is a tedious process. You might not realize it until you place a property on the market, but there are many things you must do to prepare your home for a sale. These range from the relatively simple lick of paint here and there to addressing health hazards that effectively block your home from selling in the first place.
Get it Spic and Span
No one wants to buy a messy home. But, when a potential buyer walks into your home, they want to be able to envision themselves living there. Which is hard to do when there are kids' toys everywhere, office paperwork strewn about, or hot pink delicates are hanging out the drawers.
So, you must pay attention to areas likely to be a little untidy. However, if you plan to sell to an instant buyer like Mega House Buyers, there's no need to do this as they will buy your home as-is. Just remove personally identifiable information. And definitely the hot pink delicates.
Increase Curb Appeal
Most buyers are alerted to your home by going past it. This could be when they're out jogging, driving past on the way to work, or walking the dog. But whatever it is, they also see your home in its current state, and a decision whether to call your realtor relies on the presentation.
A prospect might simply choose to pass up your home because something put them off as they went by. So you need to raise curb appeal. You can do this with simple yet effective methods like landscaping, painting fences and trim, cleaning the windows, and sprucing up the front door.
Touch Up Problem Areas
Redecorating or even renovating a property will vastly increase the chances of a successful and quick sale. Yet, these can be expensive, and you may not have the funds while you look to sell. However, you can maximize potential by touching up some of the more used areas of the home.
Some of the highest traffic areas like the hallway and kitchen will get the most damage. Therefore, replacing the carpet near the door may be necessary and having the kitchen professionally cleaned. Also, look for issues like creaking doors or faulty switches and fix them ASAP.
Install Energy-Efficient Items
These days, most people are more efficiency-aware than just a few short years ago. Therefore, you can increase the chances of a sale by installing low-energy and sustainable devices across the home. The easiest of which is LED light bulbs that use 90% less electricity than standard.
LED bulbs are great and will save money. However, more important are the more energy-consuming appliances such as the washing machine, dryer, and refrigerator. These typically use more energy, and replacing them with rated alternatives increases your chances.
Fix Major Issues
Further to minor issues that are easily fixed, a significant barrier to a sale could be significant problems that will likely cost a lot of money to rectify. A potential client doesn't want to spend extra cash after moving in, so the chances of a sale decrease if there is work to be done.
Therefore, you must address fundamental problems. Examples include a faulty boiler, bad electrics, or health hazards like mold. The good news is that rectifying severe issues like this contributes to better chances of a sale and may add more value to your asking price.
