Preparing your home for sale is a lot of work. But, regardless of market conditions, most homeowners realize that de-cluttering, updating, and Staging all add value when it comes time to sell.
If you’re Selling and Buying, there are many ways to approach the process. Some buy first; others sell first. There are pros and cons to both scenarios. In a Seller’s market – especially when inventory is inadequate – buying first is often necessary. Otherwise, you risk selling your home and struggling to find something suitable to buy.
Buying first comes with its own risk. What if the market shifts downward between the time you purchase and the time you list your own home for sale. Worst case? You could be stuck owning two homes – or taking far less for your own sale and then scrambling for financing. These scenarios played out in 2017 and it was a mess. Many Buyers were forced to walk away from purchases and forfeited their deposits.
If you’re in the kind of market where you need to buy first, you absolutely must be able to turn around and sell right away, in the exact same market conditions. This way, you can avoid being caught in the midst of a market shift that can feel like it has come out of nowhere.
How, you ask? You plan. You take all the steps required to get your home list ready – and you do it all before you buy anything else.
Here’s how you get list-ready:
Do the Big Purge
Oh, how I love a bin. Nothing makes quicker work of extreme purging.
Often, people hold off on this, thinking that – when the time comes – purging will be quick and easy and fun. Honestly, I don’t think it’s any of those things. So don’t wait; get a bin, get some friends, and go room to room and purge.
De-cluttering your home is a truly vital part of the listing prep piece. It’s not always a fun process, but you’ll feel better for having done it. And as satisfying as purging and decluttering can be, it’s incredibly stressful to do this when you’re under extreme time constraints. Do it now, because it’s a big item to cross off of your list.
Tackle Repairs and Maintenance
While preparing your home for sale, it’s important to keep on top of anything that’s on the fritz. Consider getting your furnace and/or air-conditioning serviced. Appliances don’t work? Fix or replace them. Leaky faucet? Fix or replace it. And so forth.
Pretend you’re a picky Buyer. Start from the outside of your house and objectively look for any signs of disrepair or “work.” Make a list and start tackling these, so that your home is in good shape and doesn’t give Buyers the impression that the home has been “let go.”
If you need to paint your home to present it nicely, that’s another thing to get done in advance of your listing timeline. Good painters are rarely available on short notice, so if your plan is to wait until you’ve bought something before you hire someone to help you paint… you need a new plan.
Paint touch-ups prior to listing are something most of us can handle, but things like ceilings and walls are best to get done well in advance of your projected listing timeline.
Consider Upgrades that Add Value
I’m often asked about home upgrades that are good for resale. Some make sense; others don’t really provide a return on the investment you put in. So choose wisely here.
I’m a fan of small upgrades that can be done relatively simply and without huge costs. Updates to lighting, fixtures, in some cases even appliances… it can make quite a difference.
Inventory for products and building supplies is often limited, now that almost everything seems to be impacted by a supply-chain issue. Very little gets done on short notice any more, so if there are upgrades you feel your home needs, get those completed sooner than later.
Take Seasonal Photos if Warranted
In the late summer, my yard shows its best, so I had dusk photos shot for future use.
Take seasonal photos. I had my home’s exterior shot in the late summer last year. Why? Because I figured I’d most likely sell this year and I wanted to showcase the backyard when it looks its best – later summer months. I thought if it turned out I wanted to sell in the winter or spring months, no one would really have a good sense of what the backyard has to offer. So, I planned ahead and booked photos.
Seasonal photos are particularly important for people with exterior features like gardens and swimming pools. They are pretty lacklustre during a large portion of the year in this region!
Get Your Staging Consult
Whether you’re paying for it, or your Realtor is covering the costs, it’s never too early to bring the professional Stager in to take a look through your home. The Stager can walk through your home with you and give you pointers on how to best showcase your home.
Some recommendations will require a bit of time and likely pulling in help – painting, replacing carpet, minor updates to things like lighting or hardware, etc. But likewise, some recommendations cost you nothing but a little bit of time – i.e. rearranging furniture, packing away some extra items, styling shelves and such. Here again, Stagers can book out, so this kind of consultation is smart to do in advance, so you have a list of projects to undertake during the days, weeks, or perhaps months that you spend preparing your home for sale.
With all of the above done, you’ll be in pretty good shape to list your home quite quickly. A really thorough deep-clean of your home, last-minute Staging prep, and professional photos… and you’re set.
Listing and selling your home is incredibly stressful. There’s no way around that. But, one thing is for sure, it’s a lot more stressful if you’re in a mad scramble to get your home list-ready. Planning ahead will pay off with a home that presents well. The stress of the process will not go away, but it will almost certainly be lessened with this approach.
