5 Things You Should Do Before Putting Your Property Up for Sale

Selling a property is a very important decision and possibly a life-changing one too. Not being able to sell a home as fast as you want, or for the right price, can have a huge impact on your financial present and future. One of the ways that you can prevent a disaster is to prepare thoroughly. By taking the right steps before the sale, there will be fewer chances that you’ll have to make adjustments that might hinder the selling process at the last minute. Here are some of the things you should consider doing before putting your property up for sale.

Take a Long, Hard Look at Your Market

You cannot sell a property before looking at the state of your market first. You have to know the median for home sales in your area and how hot your market is. This will allow you to set realistic expectations as to how much you can get for the property and how long you may have to wait before you can sell it.

Have the House Inspected

Getting a pre-inspection is not necessary to sell a house, and serious buyers will likely have one performed before they buy a property. The pre-inspection could be a great idea for several reasons. For one, it shows that you went above and beyond to show that the home is in good condition, and it will instill trust in the heart of buyers. Second, this will allow you to catch on to some issues buyers may want to have repaired before they buy.

A thorough inspection could help you spot things like electrical issues, issues with the foundation, or serious issues like a deteriorating roof you would have little to no choice to repair before selling. Once these repairs are done, you’ll have the peace of mind that no major issues are likely to stall the sale later on.

Do Some Minor Upgrades

Even if nothing major shows up after the inspection, it’s always a good idea to make some modifications that could increase the home’s value before listing it. You’d be surprised at how minor things such as planting a container garden or repainting the front door could have a major impact on your property’s value. 

You could also undertake some major projects like adding living space to the property or renovating a bathroom or kitchen. These products are a bit trickier, though, so you should consider speaking with your realtor first to get their opinion.

Give Your House a Nice Clean-Up

Now is also the time to get rid of everything you don’t need. Not only will this allow you to present your house better, but it will give you fewer things to haul away once the time comes to move.

One thing you have to plan for during a full house cleanup is waste management. Going back and forth to your local recycling center, or putting everything in trash bags, is just not a viable option if you have a lot of stuff to get rid of. The best move here would be to work with a waste management service that will take care of everything for you.

Trash services like Waste Connections, for instance, can either come to your property to pick up the trash when you need it or allow you to rent a roll-off dumpster. They have dumpsters of all sizes – even small 10-foot ones – so don’t assume that a dumpster would be too much for the job. They will bring the dumpster to you, wait until you’re finished, and haul it off either to a landfill or a recycling site depending on what you want.

Consider Staging Your Home

You should also look at how much it would cost to stage your property and ask your realtor if it would be worth it. Properly staging a home could be that little extra something that sways your prospective buyers’ opinion. It could also make your house look more valuable and attract better offers. 

Don’t think that staging would be superfluous or that you could get the same results by decorating yourself because you probably won’t. Stagers don’t only stage houses to make them more beautiful; they also know exactly what people are looking for and understand home buyer psychology better than the average person, so see what kind of investment this would represent and what kind of return you could expect to get on it upon sale.

If you want to get the most for your property and get it off your hands as soon as possible, make sure that you consider all the options in this article. Don’t be afraid to consult your real estate agent for any suggestions they may have as well.