With spring arriving in just a few short months, it’s time to start getting your home ready to sell. Here are four tips to help you get started on the home buying and selling process.
1) Plan: Go through every room in your home and make a list of what needs to be done, from the bigger projects, to painting and other updates. Sometimes it’s difficult to gain perspective when you’ve been living with the same home décor for many years. Invite a professional or even a friend whose taste you admire to come in and give you their honest opinion before you come up with your final to-do list. Write it down: that’s now your plan.
2) Purge: Throw away, donate, or sell items that are not used or needed in every room in your house. Take a day for each room and purge your entire home. The holidays are a good time to purge, because many of us take extra time off, and new gifts often require us to free up additional space. Plus, you can get your children involved in the project of deciding what goes and what stays – perhaps because it’s got sentimental value. Collect items in your garage or basement and you can either sell them in a garage sale, or better, yet: get into the holiday spirit and donate them to your local area shelter, church or charity. Remember to get the receipt for your tax write-off.
3) Primp: Now go through your list of to-dos and start working the plan. First, separate the list into those tasks that you can do yourself and those that will require the help of a professional. Get at least three bids on those bigger jobs. Websites such as Angie’s List and ServiceMagic are great for getting multiple bids on your home projects. Then get to work on those little projects you can do yourself. You might even hire kids who are home for the holidays to help you with some of those chores, from painting to organizing memorabilia and family collections.
4) Peruse: Finally, peruse other real estate listings in your neighborhood to get a sense of your “competition.” You can even find what homes have sold for in your neighborhood during the past two years.
