Once you’ve purchased a home you are pretty much stuck with the neighborhood, the schools, and the proximity to amenities like shopping, entertainment, and public transportation that are in your area. Hopefully you considered these elements with one of the best estate agents before buying.
When it comes time to sell your home, however, you’ll want to do all you can to ensure that your house is attractive to buyers. This includes not only the appearance of your property, but also what makes it better than comparable properties on the market.
How do you make your home the one buyers want? The best real estate agents can help you through the process, providing you with the wealth of their knowledge and experience. Once you’ve found a Realtor to help you out, there are a few details you should attend to.
Curb Appeal
Buyers get their first impression of your property before they ever walk in the door. They begin to form an opinion the moment they pull up in the drive and set eyes on your house and your yard.
This is why curb appeal is so important. The best Realtor in the world might not be able to sell your home if your facade is crumbling, your lawn is dotted with dead patches, and your overgrown foliage looks as though it might harbor a population of mythical monsters.
When people see a run-down or ill-kept exterior, they wonder what kind of neglect has occurred inside the home, as well. You don’t necessarily have to spend an arm and a leg overhauling your home exterior, but addressing the issue of curb appeal is a must.
You can start by trimming back plants, weeding, and seeding the lawn for beautiful, manicured foliage. Adding some color and pleasant scents with a few new flowers could help, as well.
Don’t have the funding to paint the whole exterior of your home? Don’t fret. You can cheat a bit and save some money by updating the paint on the front of the house only.
With a few new fixtures, some potted plants, and patches to cracks in the driveway and front walk, your house is going to look a lot more attractive and set the right tone from the get-go.
Staging
Once you’ve gotten your curb appeal under control, it’s time to turn to the inside of your home, and a bit of cosmetic sprucing can go a long way here, as well. Staging starts with a deep cleaning, as top real estate agents will tell you.
It’s important to remove clutter, including personal items (family photos, tchotchkes, etc.) and deep clean everything. Even better, think about hiring a professional cleaning service to do this for you.
This is a good time to deal with minor cosmetic fixes, too. Fix the chipped tile in the kitchen, freshen up grout and caulking, slap a fresh coat of paint on the walls, and generally make your home look like new.
From there, you’ll want to reduce the amount of furniture and accessories in every room. You need to make your space look as large as possible. The decor should merely suggest how furnishings will function in the space so that prospective buyers can start to imagine their own possessions in the home.
Building Code Compliance
Before you list your house for sale it’s a good idea to spring for a home inspection. When you are ready to seal the deal with a buyer, you don’t want any surprise code violations holding up the process.
Knowing in advance can give you the time to make fixes before you have a buyer on the line, and you know you’ll get a perfect report card from the home inspector the lender sends over prior to the sale going through.
Modernization
When you’re selling a home, you probably want to maximize profits, and chances are major renovations don’t figure into your plan. That said, seriously outdated finishes can stop even the best real estate agent from making a sale, or at least getting the price you want.
If you don’t have the dough (or the patience) to overhaul an outdated space, fake it with new flooring, cabinet re-facing, and other quick and inexpensive fixes that can change the whole look of your outdated spaces.
Competitive Pricing
Making your home attractive is about more than visual appeal. The price also has to be right. If you have a lot of competition, you might want to price a bit below the market to ensure a quick sale or even a bidding war. Your real estate agent can help you to come up with the best pricing strategy.
If you are buying or selling a house and are looking to hire a successful real estate agent to help you through the process, take a look at AgentHarvest's list of top-ranking local Realtors in your area. We found these agents by examining their sales track records, awards, rankings, client testimonials and by conducting personal interviews.