The U.S. real estate market is worth a staggering $202.6 billion and continues to show an upward trajectory. With such a large and thriving market, you’d expect selling your home to be a cakewalk. However, you’ll quickly find out that this is far from the truth.

While selling a home isn’t exactly rocket science, it takes a lot of work and commitment to finding the right buyer for your home. If you’re planning to put your home on the market, we recommend creating a home selling checklist for a quick sale.

Don’t know where to start? That’s where we come in. Today’s post is the ultimate guide for selling a home the right way.

It All Starts With a Real Estate Agent

The first thing on your home selling checklist should be to find a reputable real estate agent to help you navigate the convoluted world of real estate. These real estate experts will be invaluable in helping you sell your home at a great price. It’s unfortunate most home sellers don’t quite understand the importance of hiring one.

Real estate agents will leverage their knowledge of specific markets and their vast network to find a suitable buyer for your home. Plus, most real estate agents work on a contingency basis. This means you won’t have to pay them a dime if they don’t find a good buyer for your home.

However, if you are looking for a quicker sale or just do not want to deal with an agent, you can go through a direct buyer. A simple google search of “we buy houses Austell Ga” should give you plenty of options for direct home buyers in your area.

Declutter the Rooms

A house with rooms full of clutter is a complete turn-off for any home buyer. As such, you want to spare some time to do some serious decluttering. This will go a long way towards making the house a lot more appealing to prospective buyers.

We recommend using the four-box method to help make your decluttering easier and more organized. The four-box method involves using four large boxes. Label the boxes as “trash,” “keep,” “relocate,” and “give away.”

Put every item you want to declutter in its corresponding box. If you want, you can get help from your friends and neighbors.

Depersonalize Your Home

Depersonalizing your home simply means making your home less like “your home.” It means getting rid of any personal items that may distract prospective buyers. Some of these items include family photos, bold artwork, and personal furniture.

You want to give the prospective buyer a clean slate. That way, they can visualize themselves in the house and plan for necessary improvements. Depersonalizing your home also shows prospective buyers that the house is ready for occupation.

You can move these personal items to your friend’s or neighbor’s house. Consider hiring a moving company to help you move any valuable or fragile items.

Curb Appeal Is Everything

Make sure your house gives off the best impression from the get-go. Invest some time and money into enhancing your home’s curb appeal. This will help capture prospective buyers’ eyes and pique their interest.

The first thing you want to do to improve curb appeal is to conduct a deep cleaning of your front porch. Consider hiring professional cleaners to ensure it remains spotless. When the porch is spick-and-span, you can get to serious work.

Try planting a few colorful flowers to increase the visual appeal. Consider plants like serviceberry and even ornamental grass. Top it all off with a fresh paint coat for your porch and front door.

Paint Your Walls in Neutral Colors

To play it safe, make sure you paint all your walls in neutral tones. That’s because people’s love for colors is entirely subjective. So what may look pretty to you might be completely horrendous to another person.

Neutral colors are pretty safe because they give house buyers a blank slate. White paint enables the buyer to envision their own colors on the wall. This will help buyers picture themselves in the house, bringing you one step closer to closing the deal.

Carry Out a Smell Test

If you spend most of your time in the house, it’ll be hard for you to notice any lingering smells. Foul odors are a definite no-no for most home buyers. However, you might not notice the odors yourself.

We advise conducting a smell test to find out what your house really smells like. For this test, you’ll need an unbiased third party. Ask them to walk around the house and check for any funny odors.

The test is especially important if you have pets or are an avid cook. In case of any pervasive smells, you can hire a cleaning service to remove the source of the pungent odor. You can also apply a few “masking” techniques when potential buyers visit for a walk-in.

Check Your Home’s Condition

It’s up to you to prepare to sell your home and ensure it’s in stellar condition before any potential buyers visit. Fix all the issues you know about around the house. Whether it’s a faulty HVAC system or a leak on the roof, fix everything up.

After that, contact a home inspector to check your home for any issues you may not have addressed. If you don’t want to repaint your walls, make sure you cover any scuff marks. Also, check for any loose door handles and replace burnt-out lights.

Do Some Market Research

It’s a good idea to do some research on your local housing market. That way, you can tell how much to sell your house for and how quickly it will sell. Your real estate agent will help you get a better understanding of the local housing market.

Also, look into what fixtures and adjustments you can make to increase your home’s value. Install fixtures and adjustments that resonate with house buyers in your region, for the best results.

Home Selling Checklist in a Nutshell

Now that you know how to sell your home, our work here is done. Use the above home selling checklist to find a suitable buyer for your home. Don’t forget to share these tips for selling a house with your family and close friends.

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