Before Selling Your Home

We have all seen and read many articles about what to do before you put your home on the market. Stage it, hire a Realtor®, de-clutter, make repairs, etc, however, there are many questions as a seller you probably don’t think about. In an article from Inman Select, written by Nicole Solari, a top agent from Northern California, she brings all these questions to light to help sellers think like a Realtor®.

The first thing to think about when selling your home on Solari’s list is to figure out how much attention and expertise you need from the listing agent. While your agent is doing their best to give you their highest level of service, it is important for any working relationship to lay expectations out on the table up front so operations can run as smoothly as possible. You and your agent are a team, they are in your corner fighting for you, and there will be many issues that come along the way and you need your issues to be with each other.

Number two on Solari’s list of things to think about before listing your home is to figure out what market specific information do you have or need to acquire. Probably the most asked question to agents is, “How’s the Market?” When selling your home, it is extremely important to have a pulse on the market and know things such as when to time it so it doesn’t sit.

Know your audience comes third on Solari’s list of things to think about when listing your home. Your agent will have an idea of the demographics of your area. “If you don’t know what appeals to whom and aren’t ready to interview agents, plan to spend your weekends visiting open houses similar to yours in what you think will be your broad price range. Then, pay attention to who attends the open house, as well as what the house looks like.”

Number four on Solari’s list of things to think about when staging your home is knowing what a realistic time frame for selling your home is in your neighborhood. It is so easy as a seller to get frustrated when your home hasn’t sold, but every market is different and certain homes take longer to sell, knowing this ahead of time will put you at ease when your home doesn’t miraculously sell in 30 days.

Number five on Solari’s list of things to know before selling your home is to understand how television, technology, and social media have all changed the way people perceive things-real estate included, as we have a universe of information blasted into our pockets on our smartphones. Buyers can be constantly looking at homes on Pinterest, real estate websites, Instagram etc and get bombarded with real estate ads. “staging a home to sell is no longer optional in most markets. Do not think that watching HGTV qualifies you to stage your own home in a way that hits the right buttons with buyers.”

Also, do not think that because you’re an “artist” or you studied interior design in college that you understand how good stagers merchandise a house.

You just don’t. You need professional help with this every bit as much as you need a plumber to replace the kitchen sink. This is not a DIY opportunity!”