A Definitive Guide to Preparing Your Home for Sale

If you wish to avoid all possible mistakes that can happen when preparing your home for sale, we’ve got you covered. With our guide, your sale will go quickly and efficiently, and you’ll get the price you want. This is a complex step in everyone’s life, and it’s both emotionally and physically demanding. Prepare for it with our helpful advice.

Did you know that if you’re selling a home in New York State, a buyer has a legal right to know if it’s haunted? Now, we can’t be of much help with paranormal activities and haunted homes, but we surely know how to assist you with preparing your house for sale. Check out our tips on how to get your residence sold in no time.

The First Step of Preparing Your Home for Sale Is to Prepare Yourself

Figuring out how to plan a move to another city is difficult enough, and when you add the emotional factor to it, all of this becomes very stressful. Whether you’re moving for love or you have some other reasons to move, all of this can be very exhausting. Selling your place can take a lot of time, it can be really tense and even inconvenient.

The key is to try not to get emotional and to disassociate from your residence. You may have spent years in those four walls, and you’ve certainly got attached to the homey feeling it gives you, but now it’s time to take a different approach. You’re a seller now, so try to focus on that.

How to Prepare Your House for Sale? Start With Cleaning and Decluttering

Your home should look inviting, so make sure you declutter every room. Decide what to keep when moving and create your moving to another state checklist. Keeping clutter will make the place seem messy, and it will also add you more work when relocating, while there’s already a lot on your moving to-do list.

Get rid of all items you haven’t used for years, and be ruthless about it. Pile up unneeded stuff, and choose whether you want to donate it, sell, or throw it away. If you’re relocating to a smaller place, it’s one reason more to clear out as many things as you can. Check out some of the small apartment ideas and get inspiration from them.

Another thing you should do is to deep clean everything, from the furniture, rugs, and floors, to the patio and everything in front of your residence. The trash cans should be emptied frequently so that there’s no unpleasant smell. Your hallway is the first thing that the potential buyer will see, so it should always look neat. Learn how to pack shoes for moving and store all the pairs of shoes you don’t wear every day. If you’re still staying in that place and cooking meals every day, make sure that the kitchen is always squeaky clean.

If you’re not taking your appliances with you, open the fridge, oven, and cabinets, and ensure that everything inside is in perfect condition. Learn how to pack dishes, including also packing pots and pans, as well as packing plates, and free all the storage spaces. Potential buyers should be able to see how much room there is for their stuff.

Part of Preparing Your Home for Sale Is Removing All Your Family Items

Future buyers should have a space to imagine themselves living there, so remove all the personal items from the shelves and other knick-knacks around the place. Depersonalize and neutralize it – the best way to do it is to rent storage and put your stuff in it. Just because you like something, it doesn’t mean that the buyer will like it as well, so try to make the place seem as relaxed as it can.

You can leave some generic pieces of furniture and pictures that will add warmth to the area, but keep it neutral. If you had to learn how to baby-proof a house and modified everything to become safe for your toddlers, you should now take off all of the protection you put on corners, outlets, and alike.

Decide Whether to Hire a Real Estate Agent or Not

Finding a good and experienced realtor is something that will ease your sale immensely. If you have the right agent by your side, you’ll sell the property much faster, with less stress, and possibly for more money. You’ll also avoid preparing yourself for this task, especially if this is your first try to sell the residence and move to another state alone or with someone.

Also, if someone else is taking care of everything, you’ll have much more energy and space to focus on other things, such as learning packing tips for moving or figuring out how to live on your own in another state. Moving during Coronavirus can be quite a challenge, so you’ll need some preparation, even if you have previous experience with cross-country moving. You will also have more time to focus on figuring out how to get a job in a new city. Getting help from professional real estate agents can be one of the most helpful moving hacks for your current situation.

If You’re Doing This by Yourself, Learn All the Preparing Your Home for Sale Tips

If you decide to do it yourself, you’ll have a few more tasks on your list. The first one is to know the market and to create a strategy. Get to know the area and how much similar houses cost. Don’t set an unrealistic price – overpricing is a big mistake; it won’t help you but your neighbors to sell their houses. Also, you’ll be the one responsible for the marketing, so you’ll have to negotiate with buyers and show the property. You will also be the one in charge of making good photos and videos of the property.

Necessary Repairs Should Be on Your Preparing Your Home for Sale Checklist

Make mandatory repairs before inspections, especially if you have some major problems. There’s no need to try and hide any defects – a potential buyer can and will probably see them and it might cost you a lot. Everyone who made their new apartment checklist knows that faucets, electricity, plumbing, and other essentials should be functioning properly. If your residence requires repairs or renovations, finish them ASAP. The place must be in perfect condition if you wish to have it sold quickly.

One of the Crucial Tips for Preparing Your Home for Sale Is Sprucing Up

This is the timing when your place should look its best. Fresh up the paint on the walls with some neutral color, get rid of all the stains from cooking or any small damage that your kids or pets made. Polish the hardwood floors and make them seem newer. You can also get new linens – towels, throw pillows, and carpets. The house will feel fresher, and it can increase the price.

Highlight the Best Features of Your House, Be it a Kitchen, Living Room, or Terrace

Since you’ve been living there for quite some time, you probably already know your residence’s best features. In case you’re not quite sure and you think you’re biased, you can ask a friend to come, have a fresh look, and tell you what they think. If you have a big and spacious kitchen, bathroom, or some other area, emphasize it. Be certain that everything looks good and that the buyers can imagine themselves living there. Space should seem big and bright, so open your blinds and curtains in every room.

The Curb Appeal Also Has a Huge Impact on the Sale

Let’s not forget about the exterior of your real estate – if you truly want to attract buyers, your place must look good from the outside as well. If you have a yard, trim the grass and consider getting some plants in front of your door. You can pressure clean the patio and porch if there’s any mold or dirt, and make sure you wash all the cushions that stay outside. Get rid of the cobweb, broken light bulbs, and other things that will make your place seem neglected. Also, don’t forget to check if there are some cracks or bumps in the driveway and sidewalk. You don’t want your buyers to trip on the way to your door.

Make Sure Your House Is Always Ready for the Selling Day

You should always be ready for showings – it’s the perfect answer to how to get your house sold fast. On the day of open doors, ensure that the house is always clean and staged. A good first impression is half of the job, so try to do that part well. Put yourself in the position of a fresh buyer and see what you think of the place. If your impression is good, you’re almost there.

Be Ready for the Day of Moving Out

This process can take up a lot of time, and it might even last for months. However, you can get very lucky and sell the place in a week. Be ready for that and ensure you have a ready house or apartment to move to. Try to learn by then how to pack fragile items and what’s the perfect way to pack bathroom items, so you can be ready when the relocation moment comes.

If you’re planning on hiring a professional long-distance moving company, you’ll avoid all the moving scams that can happen with brokers and non-licensed companies. Professional cross-country movers can provide you with all kinds of services that will make your move so much easier – from long-distance moving service to auto transport service and moving insurance for all of your belongings.

If you get packing service from a cross-country moving company, you’ll know that everything will be packed with high-quality boxes and packing supplies, and you’ll also have a free storage unit for a whole month. Our professional Long Distance Movers are always the best choice for a smooth relocation. So give us a call, and the rest is up to us.