When preparing for a big move, you’ve probably worried to yourself, “How on Earth do I sell my home successfully?” And it’s a fair question to fret over! Selling your home is a huge undertaking that requires a good deal of planning and forethought. You don’t want to rush into selling your home, only to have it wind up wasting away on the market for months. Instead, it’s essential to make a plan to sell your home, so you can ensure that it’s properly listed on MLS, cleaned and staged, and that you get an offer from a potential buyer that matches what you need. If you’ve found yourself in a home selling spiral, don’t worry: read on for a list of tips on how to make your home selling process a breeze. 

How Do I List on MLS to Sell My Home? 

The first step to getting your home sold is listing it on MLS, AKA the Multiple Listing Service, a database that real estate professionals use to list houses for sale, and to find potential new homes for their clients. The MLS is actually a conglomeration of a number of different smaller databases; in order to property sell your home, you need to make sure that it’s listed on the database that pertains to the area when your home is located. 

Traditionally, it’s been standard for homeowners who are looking to sell to list their homes on MLS to hire real estate professionals like a realtor. Real estate professionals have access to the MLS due to their professional accreditation, which regular homeowners do not. While realtors can be incredibly helpful when it comes to selling your home, they also require a hefty commission fee as a form of payment for getting your home sold. Typically, this fee is around six percent of the home’s total selling price, which means that you’ll be losing a good chunk of the money that you sold it for. 

If losing money on your home’s selling price doesn’t sound good to you, there is another way to list your home on MLS without going through a realtor: an MLS listing company. MLS listing companies are accredited with the MLS and can list your home on the database for a flat fee that’s much lower in comparison to a realtor’s commission. Typically this flat fee is paid either upfront before the house is listed on MLS, or after the house sells. By using an MLS listing company to get your home on the MLS database, you’ll also have more freedom as to how you want to sell your home. You’ll get to determine the listing price, how you want to market the home, and what offers on the home that you deem acceptable to consider. If you think you might require a bit more guidance in selling your home, most MLS listing services will be able to offer you assistance in handling things like staging, marketing, and closing paperwork for an additional fee. 

How Do I Get My House Ready to Sell My Home? 

Once you’ve chosen how to list your home on MLS, you’re going to need to get it in tip top shape to sell! While you might think your home is in fine shape, take a moment to consider, “Have I done everything I can to get ready to sell my home?” and consult the list below. 

Clean and Declutter 

In order to sell your home, it’s important to make sure that it’s as clean as possible. As such, you’ll want to clean all areas in the house (yes, even the corners of your basement) and get rid of excess clutter, so your space is inviting to potential buyers. 

Make Necessary Repairs

In addition to cleaning your home, you’ll also want to make any necessary repairs before you try to sell it. If a potential buyer notices something that needs fixing in their inspection of the home, they might give you a lower offer, or ask you to cover the cost of repairs later. It’s best to get any handiwork that needs done out of the way early!

Stage and Market

After you’ve cleaned and fixed your home up, you’ll want to stage it for photographs to use in marketing material. Sometimes you might want to bring in furniture that isn’t yours for staging, to give the place a more streamlined feel. You’ll then want to hire a photographer to get high-quality photos taken that you can use to market your home in your MLS listing, as well as on promotional materials.

In Conclusion

In order to sell your home successfully, you’ll want to get it listed on MLS so that others can see it. You’ll then want to clean and prep your home for showings and get it photographed in order to market to as many customers as possible. By following the steps above, your home is sure to sell quickly and easily.