How to Prepare to Sell Your House
How to Prepare to Sell Your House: 6 Pre-Listing Tips
Are you planning to sell your house soon? Then you no doubt want a quick sale and a sizeable profit. But you won’t achieve those goals with luck alone. A successful home sale is a product of careful planning and preparation. You must know how to dress your house to impress.
What do you need to do to improve your odds of selling your house fast and for a handsome chunk of change? Read on to learn some tips.
1. Address Any Necessary Repairs
Traditional buyers usually aren’t interested in purchasing a house that needs work, so the first thing you’ll need to do is handle any repairs you’ve been neglecting. Some of the minor repairs you might need to undertake include:
- Replacing cracked tiles
- Patching any holes or dents in the walls
- Fixing sticky windows or doors
- Repairing dripping faucets
- Replacing damaged fixtures
If your house needs major repairs, like a new roof, new siding, HVAC repairs, or anything else that requires a considerable investment and time commitment, consider whether you’re willing to handle those issues.
Your house probably won’t sell to a traditional buyer if you don’t take care of major issues. If you really need to sell your house but don’t have the capital or time to invest in serious repairs, selling to a cash home buyer may be your best option.
2. Spruce Up Your Curb Appeal
The outside of your house is the first thing prospective buyers see, so you must make sure it makes an excellent impression. Ultimately, you want your home exterior to inspire people to either schedule a private showing or stop by your open house to see what the interior of the property has to offer.
The nice thing here is that you don’t have to invest in expensive updates to maximize your curb appeal. Try the following simple improvements to make your home look more inviting from the outside:
- Repaint your front door
- Plant appealing flowers and other foliage
- Pressure wash your driveway
- Touch up exterior paint
- Replace outdated light fixtures
- Update dated door handles
If you’re not sure how to improve your curb appeal, ask your realtor (if you’re hiring one). There are also tons of resources online that offer cost-effective solutions for boosting the aesthetic appeal of your home’s exterior.
3. Depersonalize Your Living Areas
During your open house or private showings, prospective buyers want to be able to imagine what it might be like to live in the home. But they can’t do that very well when all of your personal effects are still on display.
Highly personal items don’t just interfere with buyers’ visualization process; they also create a lot of unnecessary clutter, making your home look chaotic. So before you take photos or open your doors, depersonalize every room. Get rid of:
- Personal photographs
- Knickknacks and collectibles
- Family heirlooms
- Distracting furniture and decorations
- Any clutter that isn’t absolutely necessary
4. Organize Cabinets and Closets
When you conduct an open house or give private showings, prospective buyers will open cabinet and closet doors to get a feel for the home’s storage capacity. The last thing you want is to have someone open one of those doors only to find a huge, cluttered mess staring them in the face.
Even though it’s concealed behind a closed door, disorganization can be a red flag for prospective buyers. Many people assume that if you don’t bother to take excellent care of your possessions, you may not have taken great care of the house either. Dressing your house to impress means taking care of every last detail.
5. Stage the Place
If you really want to impress prospective buyers, staging is key. You’ll want to implement decor that’s neutral and inviting to make your home interior as attractive as possible. Think about doing things like:
- Painting the walls a fresh, neutral color
- Hanging new curtains
- Adding neutral artwork to the walls
- Switching out old pillows
- Laying down rugs that complement the decor
You don’t have to go crazy here, but you can if you want. Just make sure the decor is cohesive, inviting, and, most importantly, clean.
6. Clean From Top to Bottom
Last but certainly not least, you must clean your house from top to bottom. Don’t leave anything out. If you don’t have time to do a thorough cleaning or simply don’t want to put in the time to clean, hire a cleaning team. This is not something you can afford to cut corners on. Prospective buyers notice everything.
Need to Sell Your House Fast?
If you need to sell your Houston area home fast, get in touch with our team at Terra Home Solutions. We’re cash home buyers and are ready to make you a fair cash offer for your home in as-is condition. We’re currently buying residential properties throughout the Houston metro area, and we’re ready to buy your home too. To get started, give us a call at 832-843-8731 or contact us online to get a no-obligation cash offer today!