The process of selling a home can be very taxing emotionally, financially, and on your time. There are many reasons people decide to sell their homes from new jobs that require relocating to needing more or less space. Whatever your reason, you should do a few things before you sell your house to make the process smooth and easy. Some of them are outlined below.
Be sure you want to sell
This may seem counterintuitive, but it isn’t. Selling your house will mean leaving it behind and leaving behind all the memories you made. This is not very easy, especially if you have lived there for a long time. The next thing is determining if you are equity positive. Equity is how much money you get from the sale of the house after you have paid off the mortgage. The next thing is determining if you have enough money to buy a new home, rent, or pay the down payment and closing costs for a new house if you are going to mortgage.
Decide how you intend to sell the house.
There are various options available to you. You can hire a real estate agent to help you sell the house. They will be essential in the selling process, as will be discussed below. You can also decide to put your home up in an online listing service such as https://www.movoto.com/. Part of your agent’s marketing strategy may involve doing this for you. Finally, you can decide to go the FSBO (For Sale by Owner) route. Each has its pros and cons. For example, using an agent saves you the hustle of marketing and sifting through buyers, but at an extra cost, the agent’s commission. Selling it yourself means you keep the commission, but the selling process is all on you.
Pick a solicitor/conveyancer and an agent.
If you decide to go with an agent, you will need to find one that fits your need. They should be friendly, charming, and good at negotiating. You can find one through recommendations from friends or by going to auctions and inspections. You need a solicitor or a conveyancer to handle the legal process of selling, including the legal transfer of ownership from you to the buyer. Pick between a solicitor and a conveyancer. The former has a broad understanding of the law, including property law, while the latter specializes in property law specifically.
Hire a house inspector
A thorough buyer will be interested in the state of the house. They will not invest in a home that is falling apart. Besides that, a well-maintained house will sell for more than a fixer-upper. An inspector will check the state of the roof, your plumbing, and electrical systems, the walls, floor, ceilings, and foundation, among other things. Generally, inspectors do not have experience with HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, and Air-conditioning) systems, and you may need to hire a specialist. Keep the inspection certificates with you in case the buyer requests to see them. Fix the necessary things and prepare to be upfront about what you don’t fix.
Prepare the home
This is the most tedious part of the whole process. For starters, it involves a lot of cleaning. You want the house to appear in the best light, so you have to present it as such. Repaint the interior and exterior walls to neutral colors to give the house a fresh look. Consider your curb appeal. This is the first view the buyers will have of your home, so it needs to be appealing. Mow the lawn, plant some bright colored flowers and shrubs, repaint the front door and generally ensure that the outside looks inviting.
Depersonalize the space to give the buyers room to imagine the house with their things. This means removing bold artwork and pictures of your family. Declutter the home. Move any excess furniture to storage. Empty half of the closets and hide any valuables. Increase the natural lighting in the house by moving furniture away from the windows and opening the curtains and blinds. Conduct a smell test and ensure that the house does not have any kitchen or pet odors. For the duration that the house is for sale, keep it extra clean so that you are ready for any impromptu showings for a buyer. Your agent may also recommend staging the home.
When all this is done, wait for the house to sell. Give it ample time. You can shorten this time by putting your home for sale during peak season. Ask your agent when this is in your area. Be sure to price the house right. Not too low or too high. Don’t forget to factor in the closing costs, realtor and solicitor commissions, taxes, Home Owners Association fees, among others charges when calculating how much money you will receive in the end.
