Preparing your Home for Sale 🏚 👉🏼🏡✨
What Should I Do and How Long Will it take?
- Preparing your Home for Sale -
Building costs are at an all-time high, so it’s not going to shock you when I say move-in ready homes with nothing left to do, are in high demand with buyers right now.
In the real world, if you’ve been living in your home for a while, this probably means your home will require a little prepping before you sell...
But how long will (or should) that take?
Your level of motivation and realistic time availability is going to come into play here.
Let’s look at the basics “must” do list:
Decluttering
I’m personally going through this right now and honestly, it’s not that much fun… but the sense of achievement when each space is completed is 100% worth it!
We’ve lived in our current home for 6 odd years now and I’m not even home that much, but man have I collected some ridiculous stuff over that time!! The charity shops have been getting regular deliveries!
When buyers come through a home, they want to see light, space and room for “their things” so out it must go!
Realistically between deciding what to keep/get rid of, skip bin availability and charity shop drops it’s a good couple of weeks work!
Repairs
The most hotly competed for properties currently are the ones that don’t “need” work. As soon as a buyer tells me oh but I “need” to … we are either not getting an offer, or the offer we do get isn’t one that is going to make the seller smile, so we are better off taking care of the most obvious weaknesses before hitting the market, BUT… speak to us first - what you “think” will be a problem may not be … or may not be something that will cause a discount negotiation. It is time however to fix that leaky tap that you’ve just been putting up with for far too long now anyway. Depending on if you need trades people these simple jobs can take anywhere between a day and a week.
Fresh paint
This one is a bit contentious and again speak with us before you decide what you need to do. Painting unless you can do it yourself is not exactly cheap and you can be waiting a while for a quality painter to get the job on the books. While paint can lighten and brighten a property and buyers “buy” light … there may be other options that will work just as well!
Kitchens and bathrooms
Kitchens and bathrooms can sell homes but they are also a personal taste item. Avoid major renovations or installations and consider updating the fixtures, re-grouting tiles and basic freshen ups. This not only saves money, but also time when preparing for sale.
Garden
The key to a well-presented garden is an outdoor space that looks well-maintained and not like it needs a lot to keep it looking like that! Weed, add mulch, keep the lawns neatly mown, pressure wash pathways and trim back any shrubs or trees that have gone a bit straggly - especially if they are near windows and doorways ;-)
Street Appeal
From the drive by and when they first walk up to a home for inspection, what buyers see in those first seconds at the front of the house either sets off their spidey senses or puts them at ease. Cobwebs, ripped fly screens, dirty windows and even just the dust that we all have on our screen doors is enough to set off their internal alarm meaning they will be on high alert when walking through the home looking for every little imperfection. So not just when preparing the home, but while it’s on the market, pay close attention to the entry of the home and keep it in A1 condition!
As you can see there is a bit involved, but let’s think of it as a gold standard Spring Clean…
Click the HERE to view a copy of our 30 day action plan to keep you on track!