How to Prepare for Selling Your Home
1. Interview real estate agents.
There are many good real estate agents out there. Qualities of a great real estate agent include: knowledgeable, hard worker, resourceful, creative, ethical, and a great negotiator. You will be in contact with them a lot, so ensure that it's an agent that is a good fit for you.
Start interviewing agents about 2-3 months before you plan on putting your property on the market.
2. Do a property desirability assessment.
Pretend you are a potential buyer. Here are some questions to consider. Remember to be unbiased.
- Would you buy your property?
- Does the property need a deep cleaning?
- Do any of the areas of the property need to be painted?
- How can you improve curb appeal?
Analyze the responses and determine if any repairs, cleaning or upgrades are needed before placing the property on the market.
3. Set a timeline
How long it will take to sell a property can be unpredictable. Factors such as market conditions, pricing, property condition and desirability play a major role.
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Have an idea of the following:
1. When you would like to start marketing the property?
2. When would you like the property to be sold?
3. How soon do you need to get started on decluttering, cleaning or making any needed repairs?
4. Clean, declutter and de-personalize.
A property that is clean and neat shows well.
Consider de-personalizing the property so buyers can imagine themselves in the property. A good tip is to move all the extra furniture/items to the garage or a storage unit.
5. Once you have selected an agent, schedule a selling consultation.
​During this meeting, the agent will be able to give you an overview of the selling process, provide recommendations, discuss pricing and marketing strategy.
6. Decide when to put the property on the market.
Ensure that you are informed on the current market conditions since that can impact your timeframes.
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