There are three key caveats to selling a home: location, condition and pricing. Obviously, it is not likely you can uproot your house and move it to a different location, however determining the best attributes of your neighborhood when selling is very important. Is your home close to schools, parks, medical facilities and shopping? Also evaluate your neighborhood property values and if they are stable, increasing or decreasing.
The next consideration is condition. How would you rate the condition of your home on a 1-5 scale with 5 being best? The key to staging is to declutterize, neutralize and depersonalize. This is essential to prepare your home for showing as staging your home if it were a model home will sell it faster.
The final key is pricing to fair market value. Now for most home sellers this is the most stressful of the cavets to understand. A Harvard study found most people usually value their posessions considerably higher than their actual worth. Noting this fact, it may be a good exercise to visit competing homes in the marketplace and discover where they are located, the condition and pricing so you may best position your home in the market for a fast sell. It also may provide a good dose of reality to fully understand market values.
By preparing now - you can make needed improvements to your house like declutterizing, painting, neutralizing your home, putting away family photos, and finally repairing any deferred maintenance items. It only takes 15 seconds for a buyer to determine if they want you house or if they are ready to move on to the next. Preparing your home to sell is like getting it ready for a date. My suggestion is to view videos like 'Dress Your House for Success' by Martha Webb and take heed to suggestions found on programs you may watch on HGTV.
If you are serious about moving, contact me so we may discuss your plans and so I may provide you with suggestions to prepare for the market and discuss a pricing strategy.
