When it is time to put your house on the market, the preparations you make and the work you put into its sale can make all the difference in how long it sits on the market and its sales price. And every day your home sits on the market is another day longer you will have to wait to buy and move into your next home. Here are some tips to help you prepare and sell a house without a realtor.
De-Clutter and Stage Your Home
One of the first steps to selling your home is to make it look attractive. The interior of your home may be your personal storage space for all your things, but a home buyer does not want to see all the items on display. Your home needs to be cleaned and organized to remove clutter and personal items that may make it difficult for a buyer to image themselves living in your home.
Rent a storage unit or ask a friend or relative if you can place your excess items into their garage or storage shed. Box up any items that you don't use on a daily basis, and pack away personal photos and items, for example. Put all your personal bathroom items into a drawer or container in the closet and your clothing into the closet each morning so they are not out on display.
Arrange the furniture to best showcase each room and space within your home. If you have a room that is smaller than the rest, make it into a study or an office to showcase this. Add attractive decor in each room, such as decorative mirrors, framed prints, and live plants. Don't push furniture together to make it fit into a room, but instead, space it out appropriately for the size of the room. This technique helps make each space look larger.
Market and Sell Your Home
You don't need to hire a professional real estate agent to sell your home today, as there are many services and online marketing you can use to sell it quickly. Take several attractive photos of your home, post a listing of your home on local home sales websites, and don't forget to add it to your social media pages. Include details of your home, like basic features, square feet, the sale price, and the type of exterior landscaping and lot size, for example.
You can also use a flat-fee real estate service to help you market your home, including providing you with the appropriate contracts and forms you will need to use during the sales process. Post a for sale sign in your front yard and provide informative fliers about your home's features and your contact info so any interested buyers can contact you for a showing or to make an offer.
After thinking long and hard about what to do with my living situation, I finally made the decision that it was time to buy a house. I was tired of living paycheck to paycheck because of rent, so I began working with professionals to guide me in the right financial direction. I was able to find a great company that offered exactly what I wanted to learn, and they walked me through the financial aspects of home ownership. Within a few short months, I was living in a gorgeous new home that I absolutely loved. Check out this blog for great advice on home ownership.