Overcome These Obstacles When Selling Your Home

Once you’ve decided to sell your house, the hard work starts. There’s planning, packing, and figuring out all the first- and last-minute details! A few common obstacles usually crop up for most sellers, so keep these home-selling tips in mind as you prepare to list your home for sale.

Believe it or not, emotional attachment is a common stumbling block when selling your home. Let’s face it, the space where you’ve started your family or spent many years with loved ones can be challenging to sell. If you find that you’re too emotionally attached to sell your home, you might find it helpful to sit down and make a list of reasons why now is the time to sell. Are you upgrading because your family is growing? Are you looking for a home closer to a new job? These are great reasons to move, and thinking about the new memories you will make in your new space may bring some comfort when it comes time to sell your current home!

For the most part, when a seller decides to put their home on the market, they have a general idea of what repairs need to be made. However, hearing about significant issues when the buyer has a home inspection done prior to signing the contract can not only derail your plans for a quick sale of your home but can cause issues with your timeline if you’re also buying a new home. Having a pre-sale home inspection allows you to deal with issues how you want to; you can choose when repairs get made and which contractors you prefer to work with rather than needing to get things done in a rush.

While the neighborhood you bought in may have been trendy back when you purchased your home, that may not be the case today. While it’s unfortunate, it’s also true that the neighborhood makes a huge difference when it’s time to sell your home. The thing to remember is that no one knows your community as you do. Is the neighborhood playground unique? Is there a quirky coffee shop a few blocks away that always gets your order right? A great agent like Samina Chowdhury will know precisely how to use that information to reel in the right buyer for your home.

Along with any needed repairs, you need to work on your home's curb appeal. You can take your agent’s suggestions to improve the all-important first impression. You may also find it a good idea to take some quick pictures with your phone and show them to a few friends to get their thoughts. Keep in mind that you need to get a solid return on your investment. While curb appeal is essential, you need to at least make your money back if you invest a lot of money in making your front yard Instagram-worthy.

On the topic of Insta-worthy pictures, you’ll need to ensure that the rest of your house is ready to go. Plan to spend some time decluttering; in addition to making it easier for potential buyers to imagine themselves in the space if there’s less stuff in it, it will lighten the load when it’s time for you to move. While the goal is to reduce the number of things you own, even packing up some stuff you know you won’t need until after your move, and moving it out of sight, can do wonders! Do a thorough cleaning, including baseboards, those weird corners that you don’t really notice but that might attract dust or cobwebs, and behind/underneath your furniture. If you have ever felt like hiring a professional cleaning service, now is the time. It can make a huge difference in how your pictures turn out. Then, hire a professional photographer to take photos that will make your home shine.

There are many reasons why choosing the right agent is important, and setting the right price for your home is one of the most important reasons. An agent who is experienced in your area, familiar with the buyers in the current market, and who has put in the hard work of making connections will be a great help in helping you determine the correct price point for your home. Ideally, you want a price that will bring you the highest return on your investment while also bringing you a reasonably quick sale. Just realize that you may need to negotiate a bit, depending on how quickly you complete the transaction.

The biggest obstacle to a successful home sale is time. Make sure you give yourself enough time to do everything that needs to be done before selling your home. Get that home inspection done early, and then budget your time wisely for any repairs that need to be made. When you’re planning for your time, make sure that you remember that items like pictures probably shouldn’t be shot in December if you live somewhere where it snows. If you need to be moved by, say, August to get your kids ready for school in a new school district, you’ll need to make sure that your home is on the market near the beginning of peak home-buying season. So if you’re going to need to order sod for that bare spot in the backyard, you should plan to do that as soon after the average last frost as possible so that it will be well-established by the time you get pictures done to meet the rest of your timeline.

Getting ready to sell your home may feel overwhelming. If there’s a lot to do, it may help to use a guide full of home-selling tips to get yourself and your home ready for the transition. With proper planning and a fabulous real estate agent like Samina Chowdhury, selling your home does not need to be stressful or overwhelming.