Preparing Your House For Sale: 18 Ways to Sell Fast and For the Most Money

When preparing your house for sale, there are many things you can do to help your home sell faster and for more money. As you walk through your home, pretend you are a buyer and pay special attention to all of the details throughout your house. This article will cover essential tasks that could help you.

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Inspect Your Home!

If your home fails an inspection, it could hinder your chances of selling your home. The buyer will request repairs and price reductions. Lenders might not want to approve mortgages for the home which limits the amount of buyers for your home. It’s a great idea to hire a good home inspector, and if your house fails the inspection, follow their instructions to remedy the issues. Having an inspection report will give you a good baseline that covers what you should be focusing on right away!

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Declutter Your Home

Decluttering your home will give a good first impression when you are preparing your house for sale. Ever go to a friend’s house that had a big mess in their home and you thought to yourself, what happened here? Yeah, well a prospective home buyer will think the same thing if your house is a mess.

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Organize closets and drawers

Make sure you organize your closets and drawers. Perhaps a home buyer won’t go as so far to peep in those areas but it’s better to keep them organized to give you peace of mind in case they do because you never know what’s going through the mind of the home buyer.

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Clean Your Home

If you’re serious about preparing your house for sale, there is no reason why it should be dirty. Now I am not here to judge anyone, but do yourself a favor and keep your home tidy. Accountability is essential. I understand if perhaps you are very busy, or might even have a physical ailment that might hinder you from cleaning your home. However, there are options such as hiring an affordable cleaning service. You could look online for reasonable cleaning services as well. As the old adage goes, cleanliness is next to Godliness, and a pristine home will say a lot to a potential buyer.

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Eliminate Bad Odors

Eliminating bad odors is a no-brainer if you want to impress a home buyer. In addition to cleaning your home, invest in some air sprays or plug in deodorizers, or diffuse essential oils. Spraying a product like Febreze on furniture could help also.

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Hide all signs of pets

I’m an animal lover, and perhaps you are too. Sadly, not everyone is an animal lover, and so hiding all signs of your pets is essential. Perhaps someone has pre-misconceptions that animal owners are dirty, or that they wouldn’t want to live in the home of a cat-owner, etc. Find a creative way to hide your pet items and leave your pets with a pet sitting service and this could help your home look its best.

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Power wash the exterior of your home

Power wash the exterior of your home with a good power hose or a similar concept item. Nothing beats a first impression, and so getting rid of excessive grime from the exterior of your home will help you in preparing your house for sale.

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Paint

Invest some money in painting your home, both the interior and even the exterior if necessary. Fresh paint helps liven up the house, and it gives the illusion that the house is newer or in better condition that it actually is. When you are preparing your house for sale, painting the walls a neutral color (like a classic white or taupe) help since buyers can be picky with their colors. You could shop around commercial warehouses like Lowes or Home Depot to get the best deal in paint.

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Deck

Some homeowners have aged decks that are in bad shape. Consider repainting the wood of the deck, or replacing it altogether. Also seal the wood in case of any damage such as holes or overall deterioration.

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Outdoor Living Space

Did you know beautiful outdoor spaces are typically on the top 5 dream home list for buyers? When preparing your house for sale, you will want to upgrade your outdoor living space with a theme that compliments your home. Furniture pieces should match, and fit inside the backyard with ample space left. Plants should be well groomed and maintained. Also, consider getting creative with light fixtures, umbrellas, and electrical bug repellents.

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Make Repairs

When preparing your home for sale, you can’t overlook the importance of repairs. Remember earlier how I said that if your house doesn’t past an inspection, it might not sell? Well, once you get the inspection report, make repairs ASAP. These repairs might cost you a pretty penny, or they might not, but the sooner you fix them, the better off you will be. Repairs are a necessary, and often, mandatory expense.

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Remove personalized items from your house

Buyers are interested in falling in love with their future home, not your lived in home. Make sure you remove family photos, taxidermy, religious items and anything too personal. Pretend your house is a model home and make it look attractive for a general audience.

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Invest in temporary self storage

Perhaps you could invest in a public storage unit to hide some of your bulkier items from your home that you are not using. What you are selling is the space in the home, and so if you give the impression that there’s a lot of space, then this could inspire the potential buyer’s enthusiasm to purchase your home.

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Remodel or renovate your house

Remodeling an entire two story home on average costs tens of thousands of dollars. The exact cost depends on your house and what you want to remodel or renovate at the time. However if certain things in your home are very old, or are deteriorating, considering replacing them to help your home stand out. For example if you have brand new sinks, this is one less expense for the new home owner and they could appreciate that gesture.

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Amp up the curb appeal

First impressions are important so invest in ornaments or plants that could make the front of your home really stand out.

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Stage and photograph your house

Homes must look inviting and professional stagers are experts in drawing attention to (or away from!) certain areas in your home. You can’t just stop there, you must hire a professional real estate photographer to capture the beauty of your home. Notice I didn’t say take the photos yourself, or hire your wedding photographer. Home buyers fall in love with a home within seconds and if your photos aren’t up to par, they will continue scrolling. Once your listing gets stale, you can expect a major price reduction if you ever get an offer.

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Choose the right time to sell your house

When you are preparing your house for sale, you should also consider the timing of the sale. If you’re in a rush to sell your home, you might want to keep an eye on the news and track the latest home buying outlook in your city, and overall in the nation. For example, the late spring and early summer are always a hot buyers market, pun intended, because many families wait until the school year to move. However, there’s always an exception to the rule and you could find data online that indicates a historical trend of home buying in your area.

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Find the right real estate agent

Do your homework and hire a great real estate agent. You wouldn’t go to just any doctor, or just any mechanic, or dentist, etc. So you don’t want to a hire a hole-in-the-wall real estate agent either. You want to hire a real estate agent that has a proven track record, or even better works for an established firm. Once you speak to this person, if they sound like they know what they’re talking about and could show you a plan to sell your home quickly, please do yourself a favor and hire this person.

Yes, that’s our CEO, Yashira Gruszynski, selling luxury real estate in the Texas market! 

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What if I can't afford to fix or renovate my house?

Many home owners tell us they don’t have time to carry out this list or can’t afford costly repairs or renovations. Please keep in mind that if your neighbor sold their house for top dollar, it was probably because they took the time, money, and effort to complete most of our recommendations. We help homeowners that would like to sell their house fast, in a hassle-free and easy way. Contact us below to get started!

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