Most home sellers want two things: top price and a quick, seamless sales process. However, most home sellers don’t realize what it will take to prepare their home for market in order to achieve these outcomes. The first step involves careful planning, preparation and coordination with your real estate agent. The goal of all this preparation: to convince buyers that your home is a good investment, get them to fall in love with it, and leave all reason at the door! For this to happen it is important to invest time and effort in making your home market ready. Here are six Coleman Group recommended steps to preparing homes for sale:

1. Mentally Prepare Yourself

Chances are you have made so many wonderful memories in your home, and the longer you’ve lived there the harder it can be to let go. Understandably, many sellers get caught up in the emotions of selling their home, it can be bittersweet and those feelings often cause you to become resistant to any changes offered by your list agent. This is still your home, but also likely a big part of your nest egg and savings plan, which is important to remember, and any agent worth their salt should feel responsible for helping you get the most money for it! We at the Coleman Group feel very strongly about this, we understand why you may be resistant to change and want you to know that anything we recommend to you is based on years of experience for what fixes net our sellers the highest return. 

Finally, remember, a home is about the occupants, not the building or things inside it. Home is wherever you and the family choose – your memories will always remain.

2. Identify and Address Repairs

Being a home owner is hard work, and as much as we all wish we were total ‘type A’ folks who kept a perfect home all the time, the truth is that there is a lot that just falls through the cracks. All those little home maintenance things that we don’t get to add up over time – half may just be wear and tear from those four kids and two dogs, while some may be that old ice dam damage that you never patched. Well, I hate to say it, but now that you are leaving it is time to roll up those sleeves because if buyer’s see that old water damage, even if it was fixed at the source, their ‘red flag-o-meter’ is going to go up and their perceived value of the home is going to go down. We can’t have this, we want to get the most money for your home possible! 

If you hire the Coleman Group, we will go through your home and make a full list of all the little repairs that you need to do! Don’t fret, we won’t abandon you there, we also have an entire crew to come in to help you get all sorted, from movers, to painters to handymen! If you are using a different list agent or listing on your own, make sure not to forget any of the following categories: 

• Home interior
• Kitchens and bathrooms
• The home exterior (this is a BIG one) and the landscaping

3. Declutter

Space is a huge selling point, so decluttering is a must! Don’t feel like you are the only person who needs to do this, most sellers accumulate clutter and excess stuff that fills their home, jam packing closets, basements and garages! Our goal is to make it look like there is more than enough storage space to hold all the bobbles and wears a buyer might have or want to acquire and people believe what they see! If your kitchen counters are free of the stuff that usually lives there, a buyer will assume that you have more than enough cabinet space for everything or, at the very least, won’t notice that you don’t! So, let’s get to work recycling, selling and donating all our unwanted goods. For all the other stuff that we can’t seem to part with, but do not have the space for, off to the Pod you go! Don’t worry, you can have it all back once we have a P&S signed on your home. If you are working with us you can relax, we will walk through and make you a VERY detailed list of everything that needs to go! 

4. Deep Clean the Home

Cleanliness is next to Godliness, and holy cow is this ever important for selling your home! In fact it is so important that unless you are a cleaning wizard we would have you consider hiring professionals to deep clean your home. Besides, you already have enough other stuff on your plate to get ready to sell. 

So why is cleaning so important? It signals to potential home buyers that you really take pride in your home, which, in their minds, extends past the removal of dust bunnies and into home maintenance. So, get your home cleaned, and keep it clean for all the showings! Oh, and if you have a big, slobbery, love of a pup, consider leaving him with a friend or family member for a bit – I promise you won’t have to be parted too long.  

5. Can the Home Use a Fresh Coat of Paint?

It’s normal for walls to become dirty or stained when you have kids, pets, or have just lived in your home for a long time. Fear not, you can make your home feel new again with a fresh coat of paint. Good paint jobs can make small rooms appear larger and highlight architectural details in homes for sale! It is your realtor’s job to help you determine if this is a necessary step, but if they say it is, do not hesitate! When we are getting our client’s homes ready we like to use a color consultant to make sure that each room in your home is showing its best – and let’s avoid those dark reds, shall we?

6. Stage Your Home

Staging refers to decorating your home in a way that showcases its best assets, so buyers are impressed and can see the functionality of a room. Often times we move into our homes with the intention of getting that new couch, rearranging our furniture or hiring a designer, but then… well… life just happens! When needed we hire a professional stager to come in to spiff up your space with the goal of helping buyers fall in love – because when buyers fall in love they are willing to pay a premium. 

Now, we know that seems overwhelming, and it certainly can be a herculean task, but we are here to help you every step of the way! At the Coleman Group we make it our job to make your pre-market prep work as easy as possible! 

The Coleman Group elevates the property buying and selling experience through a holistic approach. Connect with one of our agents for outstanding service.