This market is moving fast, buyers are ready to make deals, and homes are flying off the internet. So, after you’ve gone through the paperwork, talked to your realtor, and asked your questions, you need to get busy. You need to prepare your house for sale while getting ready to move into your next home can be a lot to take on.
To help you prepare, check out my handy Seller’s Checklist! It will guide you through the steps to take when putting your home on the market.
The 3 D’s for Preparing Your House for Sale
To properly market your home, take photos of each room. You want to make sure they are looking their best, so following the 3 D’s (Declutter, Deap Clean, Display) will help you keep it looking sharp and ready for attention.
Decluttering
Decluttering your home can go a long way to make your rooms look larger and your home look bigger. It also helps prevent potential buyers from being distracted by personal items and clutter. If you are able, consider hiring a cleaning service to get all the nooks and crannies.
Pro Tip: As you go through a room, start setting items in various piles, such as Donation, Pack, Toss.
Deep Cleaning
After you’ve decluttered your home, it will be much easier to clean! If potential buyers see the sellers cared for their home, it sets a positive tone and helps them envision themselves living there. This is an important step to prepare your house for sale. People viewing your home are likely to tell if things are dirty.
Pro Tip: Dust falls, so start at the upper shelves or trim and work your way down.
Displaying
Highlighting the best features of your home helps potential buyers discover what is special about your space. Similarly, showing each room’s best use helps them envision the home’s potential. Think about those special spaces as you go through the process to prepare your house for sale.
Hiring a professional staging company can help make your area shine. Depending on the market your home is in, it is well worth the cost. You won’t see many homes in rural or outside city centers with home staging, but many luxury areas will have home staging implemented.
If you are planning to have a professional photographer, videographer, and 3D tour operator provide marketing for your home, you should seriously consider professional staging.
Depending on the size of your property, staging can take from an hour to two hours. Add extra time for drone and 3D filming if necessary.
To allow photographers and videographers to move freely and efficiently, wait outside of the home. That way, they abide by COVID protocols and can properly shoot footage without extra people and shadows to work around.
Your realtor may be present to assist the photographer and make sure things run smoothly and may help move things around for better angles.
Pro Tip: While the professional footage is being processed, take the time to reflect and think about what drew you to the home. Have your realtor point those out in the listing.
Marketing Your House
Your realtor should have a website they maintain for their listings, and they should link to the MLS (Multiple Listing Service). They may also include a blog and educational videos. The sites should also include a feature to collect buyer and seller information and a way to highlight featured properties.
Realtors are independent contractors and each operates differently. Some create ads and content to post on different social media channels, and some do things more traditionally.
I also create target ads and content on my social pages, including:
Reddit
LinkedIn
Pinterest
Twitter
Instagram
Facebook
YouTube
A database is a realtor’s most valuable business asset. The database helps a realtor connect buyers with sellers. My client database allows me to identify which leads have been searching for properties like those that I have listed. That way, I can send them direct notifications about your listing.
I also create a QR code to display on my listings, marketing materials, and ads. If wanted, I can set up a code that allows buyers to receive a link to new listings via a text message.
The key to getting your home sold for the best price is to reach the greatest number of buyers. With 90% or more of buyers starting their home search on the internet, it is the best way to expose buyers to your property.
Today’s buyers want information at their fingertips in only two clicks. They expect that information to be complete with all the details and photos. An experienced listing agent knows buyers ask questions like, “How close is the nearest school or hospital?” and “How old is the septic and electrical?”
Preparing Your House for Multi-Media
Buyers also want to see photos, but they need to see a variety. Buyers get frustrated with too many bedroom photos and prefer to see things like the exterior buildings and the condition of the basement.
Today’s buyer is less likely to make a phone inquiry about missing property information. They will probably just scroll to the next property in the list.
In a seller’s market, once your listing goes live on MLS, you need to prepare yourself for a flurry of activity. There are lots of buyers and their agents searching for properties just like yours. You will most likely receive showing requests immediately and back-to-back. So, prepare your house for sale and have it show-ready as soon as possible.
Pro Tip: If you don’t want your house shown at certain times, your agent can put that in the listing or use a scheduling app available to all realtors.
Reviewing Offers
In a seller’s market, you will probably receive multiple offers. This can be overwhelming, so if you choose, ask your realtor to hold offers until you can review them all at once. This also benefits buyers as it gives buyers a chance to view and put an offer on the property as soon as they can, instead of it being on a first come first serve basis.
In this market, you will probably have an offer within a week. So, before you list, remember that preparing your house for sale will help you sell the home and also have a game plan for where you are going to move and how long you will need to make that move.
Remember, the greater the house looks, the greater the exposure, the greater number of buyers, and the greatest price. So, price it right, prepare your house for sale, and let me handle the rest!
Pro Tip: I love talking about Real Estate so if you have questions let’s talk!
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