If you're planning to put your home on the market, now is the time to begin planning and gather tips for selling your house. From interviewing real estate agents to preparing the house and yard for photographs and open houses, home sellers have plenty to tackle.
Read on for practical steps to get your home market-ready, and for more detailed guidance, download our free ebook, A Guide to Selling Your Home.
Before you can commit to the major decisions required to prepare to sell your home, decide if you will choose a real estate agent to guide the process or manage the sale on your own through a For Sale by Owner (FSBO).
Each scenario has very specific pros and cons, depending on your finances, timeline, and life stage. First-time homebuyers often prefer working with an agent, but an experienced home seller may feel empowered to navigate the process on their own, hoping to save money along the way.
Reading For Sale By Owner Basics will help you understand the by-owner process.
The total cost of selling a home often surprises first-time sellers, and even experienced homeowners may be caught off guard by some of the fees involved. Sellers can incur thousands of dollars in expenses, including home improvements, staging, and closing costs.
Estimating 6–10% of the final sale price to cover total selling costs, including real estate agent commissions, is a reasonable starting point, though each sale is different. If you exclude commissions, seller closing costs alone are often closer to 1–3%, depending on location and contract terms.
Don’t be surprised by the outflow of cash. Read The Hidden Costs of Selling Your Home.
Capital gains are a very real component in determining a home sale plan. If you sell your home for more than what you purchased it for, the government requires you to pay taxes on your capital gain. The amount of tax owed is determined by various factors, including how long the property was owned before being sold.
Military home sellers get to play by a slightly different set of rules because the IRS realizes PCS moves make it difficult to offset costs. Because the information is detailed, read What to Know About Taxes When Selling a House for a better understanding of what to expect.
It's true; if you work with a real estate agent, their team will ensure the best marketing and research practices are in place. As the owner, however, you’ll also need to be involved with the process.
As a FSBO seller, you’ll handle photography, build an online presence, and provide the printed materials needed for one-on-one meetings and advertisements.
Your real estate agent should have a strong indication of which home improvements fare better in comparable homes in your neighborhood. Home improvements are locally influenced, meaning a finished basement might not have the demand that an upgraded primary suite pulls in some neighborhoods.
If you’re not using an agent, you’ll have to dive deep into the neighborhood's characteristics, watching for selling trends, such as garage vs. loft and bonus spaces.
Real estate experts agree on the huge benefit of curb appeal. It's the main thing a buyer notices, both online and in person. Investing time and money in the house's visual appearance is a solid marketing strategy that pays for itself.
Power washing, landscaping, and improving the welcome factor of your front entry are essential improvements. Smaller projects, such as potted flowers and updated house numbers, also contribute to the home's overall appeal. Buyers tend to like houses that look like they've been cared for.
In some markets, home staging is not a nice-to-have option; it's a demand. In order to draw full or beyond the asking price, buyers expect the home to be outfitted from floor to ceiling. They are buying a dream or a lifestyle, not a house.
If your local market doesn’t require professional home staging and you're doing it yourself, the key to home staging is starting with a clean home. This sounds simple, but preparing a house that's ready to show is time-consuming. Deep cleaning, clearing clutter, and arranging furniture to maximize square footage require weeks of prep, and it's just the beginning of proper home staging.
In truth, you likely need to anticipate multiple open houses. This includes cleaning the house to host buyers, securing valuable items, boarding pets, and making plans for the family to be away for several hours on successive weekends.
If you're selling by owner, you'll have the challenge of whether or not to host the open house yourself or hire a real estate professional to manage the event. If buyers realize the owner is on the premises, they might be reluctant to ask questions or to look through the house thoroughly.
Click the image below to get a free open house checklist.
Unless your market is moving lightning fast and buyers are waiving home inspections to be considered for the purchase, the odds are you’ll have to schedule a couple of days for inspections. General inspections are typically several hours, and specialty inspections (moisture, foundation) add more time.
To get ahead of potential problems, some sellers consider a pre-inspection to uncover items that need correction. The trick is to decide whether they warrant immediate fixes or can be negotiated in the sales contract.
Prepare for the inspection and get familiar with 11 Common Issues Found During Home Inspections.
Although closing day procedures have been streamlined and many documents can be handled virtually, there are some tasks a homeowner should prepare for.
If you’ve chosen to pay for closing costs outright, you'll likely need a cashier’s check. You’ll also need a photo ID, a copy of the ratified sales contract, and all of the keys the house needs, including garage, gates, and doors.
Get all the details in 18 Steps Home Sellers Should Expect at Closing.
From start to finish of the home selling process, these nine tips are a solid start for formulating your plan, but home selling has dozens of moving parts occurring at the same time. For more help understanding the process, get our free guide to selling your home below.