Getting my house ready to sell

Selling a house can be a long and complicated process, making it incredibly stressful. If you’ve been wondering “how can I sell my house fast?” then this article is for you, looking at how to get your house ready for sale on any budget.

1. Find the right agent

When you sell, you rely on your estate agent to do the best job that they can to secure a good buyer. However, if you pick an agent without checking their reputation and seeing what sort of services they will offer you, it can mean that you lose out on your sale and prolong your timeframe.

There are several questions that you should ask an estate agent before you move forward with them, such as –

• What are the costs involved?
  Agents will have a fee in place for when your sale completes, which can be up to 4% of your sale price, so make sure that you know what the fee is before agreeing to sell, ensuring you know what you’re signing up for.
• How long do you think it will take to sell?
  While your agent can’t make a promise of the exact timeframe, they should be able to give you a good idea of how long it will take, using data from other similar properties that they’ve sold recently and the current market.
• Is there a tie-in period?
  A lot of agents will have a clause in their contract that states if there is a tie-in period or not, but make sure to ask before you sign anything, so you know what you’re moving forward with. A tie-in period will mean that even though your current agent isn’t making any progress towards selling your home, you can’t go to another agent until the end of the agreement, delaying your sale even more.

You should also consider how easily you’ve been able to get hold of your agent – selling a house requires a lot of communication, and if you’re struggling to get in contact with an agent before you’ve agreed to sell with them, this is a good indicator that they won’t be the easiest to work with.

2. Clean and declutter

When you sell, you want your house to look the very best it can for every viewing to catch the attention of potential buyers and encourage them to move forward with you. Homes that are untidy and cluttered will often put viewers off, so spending some time organising the property before your viewings will reduce the risk of this happening.

Decluttering before you move is also a great way to get the packing process started and reduce the amount of stuff you have to take with you. Doing this before you put your house up for sale will mean that it goes onto the market looking its best, increasing the chance of you attracting your buyer in a shorter timeframe.

3. Fix any issues

Your home will be under intense scrutiny when your potential buyers come to view, and the smallest problem can mean people lose interest in a property as they see it as something they will likely have to fix. To avoid this, resolve any problems before you put the house up for sale so you know that it’s in the best condition it can be.

Make sure that you also include cosmetic defects into this, such as scuffed or cracked walls or damaged flooring. These will jump out right away when your viewers come around, and will often make them think that there are deeper-rooted problems if these haven’t been dealt with. Fixing these issues will also usually mean that you’ll sell for a better price.

4. Redecorate

Almost every house benefits from being redecorated before going up for sale, and no matter your budget, there are plenty of ways that you can make your home look more attractive. Redecorating will increase the amount of interest that you can achieve, and often help to make your house stand out from others in your area.

Some homeowners choose to do more extensive decorating when they sell, especially if they want to increase their value and get maximum interest, so looking at renovations is a good way to achieve this. Properties with new bathrooms and kitchens will generally get more attention, but as a seller you’ll need to be able to afford to do this and ensure that your improvements have increased the property value to put you in profit for the work you’ve done.

For those who don’t want to spend a huge amount getting the house ready to sell, spending some time repainting the rooms is a cheap way to make a big difference. It will brighten the rooms, and by using neutral colours make them look cleaner and more spacious too; all big wins for any potential buyers.

There are lots of aspects to selling property that can make it difficult and delay the process, but following the above will help you to get things moving and achieve your sale faster!

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