The average time it takes to sell a home is about 68 days.
For some people, it takes much longer, while for others, it takes much shorter.
While the time it takes to sell a home can come down to luck, oftentimes, it has a lot more to do with how you prep your home for the sale.
By doing the appropriate home prep, you’ll be much more likely to make a quick (and profitable) sale.
But, what exactly do you need to do to get your home ready to sell?
Check out this guide to learn the top things that will make your home sell fast.
1. Find a Great Real Estate Agent
Selling your home on your own is always an option. However, if you’re looking to sell your home quickly, hiring a real estate agent is the best way to go.
Unless you really know what you’re doing, selling your home will almost always end in disaster. And, you’ll likely end up losing a lot of time and money in the process.
That being said, you shouldn’t just hire the first real estate agent you come across on Google.
Instead, make sure to do your research and find a highly-qualified agent who’s extremely familiar with the area you’re selling in.
Also, make sure the agent you hire has excellent communication skills and is someone you actually like working with. You may be working with your agent for several months or more, so it’s important to hire someone you can trust.
2. Make Small Repairs
Yes, making repairs that you’re not going to benefit from can feel like a huge pain and even a waste of time.
However, these small repairs can really make all the difference when it comes to selling your home. Plus, there are a lot of small repairs that you can do yourself and that won’t eat up a lot of time or money. These include:
- Fixing leaky faucets
- Fixing running toilets
- Repairing and repainting walls
- Repairing damaged window screens
- Replacing burnt-out lightbulbs
- Repairing grout
- Replacing caulking in the bathroom
As you can see, nothing on this list involves remodeling a whole section of your home. And, these simple repairs can really help make your home look 10 years younger, so don’t neglect them!
3. Remember, It’s All About Curb Appeal
We’ve heard time and time again that you should “never judge a book by its cover.” However, this is what everyone does when looking for a new home.
This is why curb appeal is so important.
Even if the inside of your home looks immaculate, if the exterior of your home is a little run down, it won’t matter.
Also, just like home repairs, there are some pretty simple things you can do in terms of curb appeal that will make all the difference. These include:
- Trimming trees, shrubs, and bushes
- Repairing gutters and downspouts
- Cleaning and repairing concrete areas
- Putting out some new flowers, if it’s seasonally appropriate
- Applying new mulch or river rocks
Again, these are very simple things you can do to boost the look of your home and get it ready to sell.
4. Declutter and Depersonalize
When potential buyers enter your home, they don’t want to see what your decorating skills are like.
Instead, they want to be able to imagine how they would be able to decorate the place if they were to buy the home.
This is why it’s so important to declutter and depersonalize your home before putting it up for sale.
To declutter your home you need to:
- Purge your home of any unnecessary items: Either donate, put things in storage, or move it into your new home if you’ve already purchased.
- Deep clean your house: This involves more than just dusting and mopping. To truly deep clean, you need to go room-by-room and make each space look like it’s almost never been lived in.
- Organize storage spaces: Your closets, cabinets, and drawers should all be organized. Many potential buyers will open these spaces, so it’s important to have them clean.
Then, in order to depersonalize your home you need to:
- Remove all personal items including family photos, certificates, calendars trophies, etc.
- Remove any bold artwork or furniture
- Remove “knick-knacks” i.e., antiques, souvenirs, magnets, and family heirlooms
- Keep your children’s’ toys stored away
By doing all of this, it will make it much easier for potential buyers to envision themselves living in your home.
5. Focus on the Kitchen
The kitchen is the heart of the home, and because of this, it’s often the first place that potential buyers head to when checking out a home.
Therefore, it’s very important that you really make your kitchen stand out.
First things first, you’ll want to take care of repairs. This includes repairs both big and small. Fix leaking sinks, burned bulbs, wobbly tables, and, don’t forget to check that your appliances are all in working order.
Appliances are a big deal to buyers, so make sure your fridge, dishwasher, oven, and stove are all in top-notch shape. If they’re not, you’ll need to hire a repairman. This blog can tell you more about hiring a repairman for your kitchen appliances.
6. Eliminate Odors
Last but not least, you want to make sure your home doesn’t have any funky smells to it.
Foul odors, even faint ones, can be a deal-breaker for buyers. But, the problem is, you likely won’t notice them since you’ve been in your home for so long.
So, invite an unbiased party over to conduct a smell test. Whoever you invite will have a much easier time detecting pet odors or lingering smells from your kitchen.
Home Prep: Are You Ready to Sell Your Home?
As you can see, there’s a lot that you need to do in terms of home prep.
However, all of this preparation will soon pay off, as it will help your home sell in no time at all.
If you liked this article, be sure to check out our blog for more home selling tips and tricks!
