8 Tips to Prepare Your House for a Sale

When it's time to put your home up for sale, you may want the process to be quick and easy. Yet, even if you find the best possible real estate agent, you will still want to take steps to prepare and present your house to potential buyers. As you go about the process of finding that great real estate agent to work with, such as through BidMyListing.com, you can also be proactive at home. Here are 8 tips to keep in mind when you begin the process of preparing your home for sale.

1. Declutter Every Room

Home buyers often experience a struggle to see beyond piles of personal items and furniture when walking through your house. Since you want them to be able to imagine and visualize themselves living in the property, do your best to create a simple balance. This means including just enough of these items without being overwhelming. For this, you will need to take steps to declutter each room. Begin in one location in the house and expand out, removing what you can. Limit what is visible on your bookshelves, counters, and tables. Create a sparse yet cozy or modern look, depending on how your house shows best. Rooms with less furniture and excess personal items look larger, allowing the home buyer to imagine what they can add in the space.

2. Ensure the Property is Clean, Organized, and Tidy

When it comes to how to prepare a house for sale, making sure the entire property is clean, organized, and tidy is one of the cheapest home makeovers and selling strategies available to you. Show buyers a dirty, messy house, and few of them will be able to look past the built-up grime and heaps of clutter. It will be those dirty, cluttered spaces that will capture their attention first, not the potential each room offers for them to create a cozy, inviting sanctuary of their own.

After decluttering, make sure that everything left has its place. Organize it all in designated spaces. Clean everything, from windows to sinks to bathtubs to baseboards. Polish faucets and mirrors, and vacuum all carpets and rugs. Dust daily to keep your house looking its best. Put out clean hand towels in the bathrooms and place clean-smelling air fresheners throughout. Wipe down the interiors of your refrigerator and stove in case potential buyers want to have a look. Be sure you remove all obstacles protruding into sidewalks and walkways when preparing a house for sale also.

3. Minimize the Presence of Pets

While this may sound harsh to animal lovers, keep in mind that not every home buyer is a cat or dog person. Remove dog or cat beds, food bowls, toys, and litter boxes whenever possible. If they must stay, be sure to clean them on a regular basis. Also, make sure no animal smells linger anywhere in the house. Unpleasant smells and excessive pet hair can turn potential buyers off, even if your house is the perfect fit for them. To help prepare house for sale, spend time vacuuming, ventilating by opening windows, and deodorizing areas where your pet spends the most time. For a showing, ask someone to take your dog for a walk or pet sit your cat for a few hours.

4. Remove Most if Not All Personal Objects

Your house may appeal to a variety of potential buyers, so depersonalizing it as much as possible allows each one to visualize it as their own, in their own unique way. Personal items located throughout the rooms may disrupt this ability to visualize. For example, family heirlooms may create a look and feel opposite of what the buyer may be looking for and be off-putting. They can also appear as clutter.

Buyers need to be able to imagine how the house can accommodate their design elements and objects and fit their needs, preferences, and aesthetics. Spend some time going through each room and removing photographs, family heritage items, and any other furniture or objects that can throw buyers off. You want them to focus on the actual space and its potential.

5. Make Minor Repairs

The need for necessary repairs can often interfere with a sale of a house. For this reason, take account of what minor repairs your house needs and determine which ones you can take care of before showing the house to potential buyers. While you won't need to repair everything when preparing house for sale, a few you might want to consider undertaking include:

- patching holes in the walls, replacing burnt-out or dim light bulbs, repairing or replacing dripping faucets, addressing doors or drawers that fail to close properly, painting scuffed up or dull walls, and replacing loose or cracked tiles, Knowing what to fix and what not to fix is a crucial part of the home selling process and can make a big difference. To find out more about what to fix or what not to fix, read this informative blog post on Bidmylisting.com.

6. Organize All Closets and Cabinets

One feature a buyer looks for in a house is the amount of storage space available. Built-in closets and cabinets are important, and the home buyer will more likely than not want to examine the interior of these while looking through your house. Make sure you clean out and organize all closets and cabinets in the house, including those in bedrooms, kitchens, bathrooms, and even the garage if you have one. Examples of ways to organize include neatly lining up glasses and stacking dishes in your kitchen cabinets, folding all towels the same way in the linen closet, and arranging shoes in a neat line.

You want the buyer to notice the level of detail in your organizing efforts, so that they know how well you care for your personal possessions, thus giving them the impression of how you have cared for the house overall.

7. Rent a Storage Unit If Necessary

Removing and decluttering can be difficult if there is nowhere to put your belongings. If this is the case, consider your options for renting a storage unit nearby to better prepare house for sale. Temporarily store all excess furniture, artwork, and family heirlooms, along with everything you have already packed away for your move. While this will add an additional expense, it will be worth it in the end if the right buyer comes along and offers the best possible price for your home.

8. Let Bedrooms Be Bedrooms

The number of bedrooms is an important factor in many home buyers' final decision-making. So, if you are currently using a bedroom for something other than a place to sleep, such as a home office, game room, or space to house a collection, whatever that may be, consider converting it back to its intended use. Sparsely furnish it with a bed and nightstand to make it appear sizeable, even if extremely small. By doing so, it can show the potential your house offers a potential buyer.

When it comes to selling your house, there are steps you can take to increase the chances of a quicker sale. Staying proactive by finding the best ways to declutter, clean, organize, and prepare each room for viewing will go a long way in allowing potential buyers to imagine the home they've always dreamed of with less effort.

Before you start preparing your home, however, ensure you have a real estate agent you can count on to guide you through the process. From there, you can begin to tick off each item on the above list.

To find the best real estate agent to work with, start by using BidMyListing. You simply input information on your listing and let agents come to you with an offer to represent you and sell your house. You will even receive payment from the agent you select upon signing a listing agreement. We walk you through the process and provide support so you can make selling your home the best experience possible.

Get Started on BidMyListing Today!

Look for the ideal real estate agent? head over to the BidMyListing website to have real estate agents bid for the opportunity to sell your property. Once here, all you need to do is enter your home's address, confirm property details, and input the selling price you hope to receive. From there, our smart technology will create a list of top agents who will send bids for you to choose from, leaving you in control to choose the agent best for you. Get started today!