Things to do before you list your home for sale

When you list your home for sale, your goal should be getting it sold as soon as possible and for the greatest dollar amount you can. If you agree with that goal, here are a couple of tips to help you achieve that:

1) Find a retired home inspector and ask if they would come into your home, walk through it with you and point out any red flags that would be an inspection issue. They could probably do this for a small fee. If you can do this, you will identify issues beforehand and it is recommended that you take the time and money to fix them if you can. When this is done, you are ahead of the game and when it comes time for inspection, there wont be any unexpected surprises that compromise the closing, time on market or sales price. I have stories about this that I will elaborate on in future posts. Bottom line here is you want to do what you can to eliminate any inspection surprises.

2) One chance to make a good impression: If you are going to list your home, put some money into getting it ready for the market:

- Clean up your property if its a mess

- Landscape the property

- Clean the exterior of the home (siding)

- Empty out the inside as much as possible. Less is better. Avoid clutter.

- Consider interior painting if needed, this always helps to show a home

- Be packed and organized with most of your stuff/furniture. Consolidate it to the garage if that's an option.

- Always make sure the home is clean, very clean!

- Depending on the area you live, size of your home and furniture in it, staging can be considered. Discuss this with your realtor.

Consider these two points as investments to earn a greater return on your home.

Hope this helps