Things To Do The Week Before Listing Your House
If your house is about to go onto the market you are possibly feeling a bit of stress about how quickly it will sell. Selling your home is as much as a mental exercise as it is a estate agent transaction and it’s totally normal to be quite stressed about your house move! There is lots that you can do in the week before listing your home that can help ease the stress. As with most areas of selling a house, taking steps is usually going to get you better results than just sitting back and waiting for everything to fall into place.
Start to tell people that you are moving house
Just because your home perhaps isn’t ready for showing yet, it doesn’t mean that you can’t start the process of letting people know it will be available. Some estate agents will provide you with a “coming soon” sign that you can add to your garden, but even if yours doesn’t, you can take the initiative and start letting people know via facebook and email. Houses are usually at their most desirable just as they hit the market, so the more interest you can generate at the start, the better!
Discard or donate what you no longer require
You may not be ready to pack up and move yet (see Family Movers packing products!), but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be getting rid of stuff. Potential buyers want to be able to envisage themselves in homes when they go for a showing and having the previous owner’s things lying around can really interfere with that vision. Go through each room including all your cupboards and organise unwanted items into three piles, rubbish, recycle and charity shop!
Stage your house ready for selling
Staging is highlighting your homes best features. Even if decorating isn’t your strong point, it’s a part of the home selling process you can’t really ignore. Half off buyers’ agents say that staging the home has a positive effect on how buyers view it, and 21% of buyers’ agents say it increases the value of a home and decreases the time it stays on the market. The week before listing a home for sale is a great time to start your home staging, since you will have some time to really make sure it’s done right. It’s definitely possible to stage your home on a budget.
Sort out a plan for kids and/or pets during home viewings and during move day
If you have little ones at home or pets, ensure that you have a plan in place for when showings happen. The house should be completely empty when viewers come through your home, which is an inconvenience but something that needs to be addressed. Talk to a friend or neighbour or family member and see if they can arrange to help you out in the event that your kids or pets need a place to go during a house viewing.
Set expectations with your estate agent
The first couple of weeks that a home is listed for sale tend to be busy. Talk to your Estate Agent now, in the week before you go live about expectations you have about how things should go so that you know exactly what to anticipate. This includes the lead time you would like to have between viewing requests and the house viewings themselves, any rules you have for when buyers and their agents are in your house and anything else that will be harder to control once the house is listed.
Give your house curb appeal!
You also want to put some effort into making the exterior of your home look as inviting as possible. First impressions are imperative and should not be overlooked. Cut your lawn, remove any weeds and tidy up as necessary. If your driveway could use a refresh use a power washer to clean it and have them looking good as new.
Find another location for your personal items in the home
A fundamental part of selling your home quickly and in as stress-free a manner as possible is to make it less personal. House buyers are trying to envisage what their life would be like in your home, and that can be hard to do when they’re surrounded by somebody else’s photos. The week before listing a home for sale, go through and remove as many personal items as possible. This includes pictures, papers, and pretty much anything with your name on it. It will feel a little unusual to live in your home without all these personal things around, but it’s worth it if it means your home gets sold faster.
Hide your valuables
A large majority of the people who go to home showings are doing it with the best of intentions, but there have been instances of people who go in looking for valuables to take. It’s always better to be safe than sorry, so find a safe storage spot for things like jewellery, medications and anything else that may of value. It’s a small step to take, and one that you’ll definitely be upset you didn’t take if something goes missing.
Complete any home repairs
The week before you list is a great time to make sure all small home repairs are complete. Fixing up chips or cracks in paint, scuff marks, and loose cabinets will go a long way toward ensuring that your home looks great.
Perform a final deep clean of your home
Part of the stress that comes with living in a house that’s for sale is having to keep it clean all of the time. Start the process early and get going with a blank slate by setting aside a day for giving your home a deep clean or pay someone else to clean your home! Follow the same tips you’d use to clean a home upon move-in, making sure to get in all of the nooks and crannies. It won’t be exciting but at least it will be easier to ensure your home is as clean as possible for showings when they start.