Thinking about selling your house? www.accordingtofrankie.com photo by Mark Moz.
If you’re thinking about selling your house, you may feel unsure about what to do to get your house ready for sale. I’ve got a few simple steps you can take to make sure you don’t waste time or money on unnecessary items and get the most money for your house.
6 Steps To Take Before Selling Your House
- Select a Good Realtor – And, I mean a really good realtor. One that is interested in working with you.
- Ask About Comps – Your realtor can tell you what the demand is for houses in your neighborhood, and the number of houses currently on the market. He can also tell you how much comparable houses have sold for recently. This is commonly referred to as “pulling comps.”
- Ask What Needs to Be Fixed – Have your realtor over for dinner or coffee. Ask your realtor which repairs should be made before the house can be sold in order to maximize profit from the sale of your home.
- Ask Who Should Fix It – Your realtor may have a ready list of tradespeople that can economically fix the required items.
- Ask What Needs to Be Changed – Ask your realtor what changes could be made to maximize profit. Do you need to take down family photos? Eliminate clutter?
- Follow Your Realtor’s Instructions – For best results, take as many of the steps recommended by your realtor as possible.
If your realtor is awesome, he or she will most likely be glad to provide these tips for you. If you do this well in advance of listing your house, you’ll have plenty of time to make the necessary changes. I even contacted our realtor before we decided on a budget for our kitchen renovation, to make sure we didn’t spend more than we’d get back. These steps will save you the hassle and expense of completing projects or repairs that won’t get you more money in the sale.