How To Get Your House Ready To Sell In 30 Days?
For most people, selling their home is a big deal. It requires a lot of time, patience, effort, and above all, planning. Despite these challenges, most homeowners can prepare their house to be sold on the market within 30 days. Is it possible?
The answer is yes - if you take action and follow the advice in this article. Read on to discover how to get your house ready to sell in 30 days.
Clean Up Your Home
No matter if you have a fixer-upper or a home that you’ve lived in for decades, the first step to selling your home is to clean and declutter it. There are a number of reasons for this:
- Depersonalizes the home so potential buyers can see themselves living in it
- Fetches a higher asking price, as a cleaner home signifies that you’re serious and prepared to sell - not doing it as a desperate, last-minute decision
- Reduces any concessions during the negotiation phase, where buyers may require professional cleaning services to remove any potential contaminants
There are three areas of your home that require a thorough cleaning and sprucing up to sell your home quickly:
- The interior of the home
- The exterior of the home
- The property surrounding your home
Interior
Your home’s interior needs to be spotless to entice buyers during an open house or through private screenings.
First, you’ll need to depersonalize the interior, removing as much furniture and personal items as you can. Transferring this property to a storage space or your other living space is essential.
Once you’ve cleared out your property, it is time to clean the home. You can choose to do it yourself, but most realtors suggest that homeowners hire a professional cleaning service to give an objective spot-check. Every surface must be dust- and debris-free, exposing every surface to scrutiny.
Once the home is cleaned, it’s time to address any lingering projects and make necessary repairs. If you have creaky stairs, cracked windows, dead light bulbs - just about anything that shows that your home is worn and neglected needs to be repaired. Failure to do so may have potential homebuyers further scrutinizing the interior.
Furthermore, it’s important to neutralize every surface. All walls should be painted off-white or grey, which increases the perception of space and reduces the association of the room’s prior use. While you may be attached to the bright colors of your childrens’ room, that same room may be converted to a home office or an exercise space.
Exterior
The exterior of your home is the first thing that buyers see. Even having an immaculate interior space can be negatively impacted by a dilapidated exterior.
Just like your interior, you’ll want to clean the exterior. Replace any dead light bulbs or rusty fixtures, replace loose shingles, powerwash any mold growth, and so forth. Hire contractors ahead of time to address any issues that you cannot fix, such as a new driveway resurfacing.
The aim is to create curb appeal. Curb appeal is simply the notion that potential homebuyers will get a positive first-impression upon seeing your home before stepping inside.
Property
Now that your home itself is clean, it’s time to address your property. Start by manicuring your lawn, removing children’s toys, trash any debris, trim the foliage, and address anything that looks “off”. This includes not only the front of your property, but also the rear and side portions.
If you have neighbors that are adjacent to your property, notify them of your intentions and see if you can convince them to do the same. Even if you take care of your business, a sloppy neighbor can reflect poorly on your home. After all, who wants to live next door to a home that may reduce their property value?
Advertise Your Home
Once your home is clean and spotless, it’s time to advertise your home. But before you do so, you’ll want to take pictures and create compelling media that attracts attention.
For this purpose, it helps to have professional help. If you’re working with a realtor, they will offer their services to take professional pictures that show off your home’s space and features, as well as the surrounding property. They can also produce video, virtual tours, and - the latest trend - drone footage.
Once all of the media is ready, it’s time to advertise. Again, realtors are pros at this, posting your home on various websites, catalogs, and other listing services that details your property.
If you’re working on your home as a FSBO (For Sale By Owner) or just want to help your realtor advertise the property, you can spread the word as needed. Advertisements are available on nearly every platform; whether you choose to post the home on a Facebook group, Craigslist ad, a custom website, or just simply by word-of-mouth, every avenue creates new opportunities for leads. And the more leads you have, the more numerous and competitive your offers will be.