How to Prepare Your Home For Sale

Preparing your home for sale can be an arduous process. For some, getting a home ready for sale is as simple as decluttering and hiring a professional photographer. However, it’s a more involved process for others that might include landscaping, cosmetic updates and systemic repairs. 

If you’re beginning the process of selling your home, these expert tips will help you attract buyers and secure a quick sale.

The exterior of the home is one of the first things that potential buyers notice when looking at an online listing. As a result, cleaning up the landscaping and making improvements to your home’s curb appeal is an important step in preparing a home for sale. 

“We start with professional photos before we list, so we want to make sure the house is ready when we photograph,” says Drew Kern, a Berkshire Hathaway real estate agent based out of Miami, Florida. “Every person at a showing is seeing the home for at least the second time. They’ve already looked at least once online before they’ve shown up.”

Landscaping can feel like a daunting task, but it doesn’t have to be. When preparing a home for sale, it’s best to keep things simple. Clean up overgrowth, sweep the front porch, fix any mold and mildew, and make inexpensive but impactful changes such as paint touch-ups. The focus should be on creating an approachable atmosphere. 

Kern says that in a locale such as South Florida – where home insurance can be expensive and difficult to obtain – real estate agents want to make sure that a home shows well for inspectors. When he looks at a home, he is looking for issues such as obvious leaks or problems with the roof, and anything that needs to be mitigated prior to going to market. 

“If you don’t have a brand-new home, that’s OK,” Kern says. “We want to present it as well maintained. That’s really important to how it shows and how much we can sell it for.” 

One of the most time-consuming aspects to getting a home ready for sale is the decluttering stage. However, this step has a two-fold benefit. Your home will be more presentable to potential buyers and you’ll be able to edit your belongings before moving into your next home. 

“Purge, donate, and get rid of the things you don’t want,” Kern says, “Most homes are over furnished and overcrowded. Get rid of the things that confuse the floorplan in a photo. Your favorite chair that looks like it was in its prime 30 years ago might be comfortable, but it dates the house.” 

One important, but sometimes overlooked, aspect of cleaning and decluttering is neutralizing odors. Most homes have a smell, and even though it may not be a bad smell, it’s still a good idea to try and neutralize any odors as best as you can before showings. Once you’ve decluttered, focus on cleaning anything that holds onto smell. Rent an upholstery cleaner, clean all bedding, wash the interior garbage cans, and clean the dishwasher and washing machine.

Kern suggests getting rid of any obvious pet materials, such as dog beds. Not only can these items smell, but not every potential buyer likes pets. The presence of pet items could distract from the great aspects of your home. 

For some, hiring a professional cleaning service is well worth the money. Their trained eyes can spot dirt and dust that you may miss in your own space, but that potential buyers will notice. Rates will vary depending on the size of your home, amount of work required and location, but most homeowners can expect to spend several hundred dollars on a deep clean. 

Many realtors recommend getting rid of family photos and personal items, but Kern goes against this common advice. 

“I don’t like a sterile home,” he says. “I like the right amount of family photos. It shows that a home was loved and lived in by a family, and will be appreciated by the next family. In an over-staged and too sterile home, buyers think they’re being duped. They think, ‘Does anyone live here? What are they hiding?’” 

“The most important repairs for a home sale are things that an inspector is going to pick up on,” Kern says. “Especially if they’re not observable.” 

Home repairs and maintenance can be expensive, but if you’re going to spend money anywhere during the selling process, this is usually the area where you’re going to get the best return on investment. Issues such as roof leaks and mold and mildew will typically turn potential buyers off. 

Most buyers would prefer to purchase a home that won’t require a lot of maintenance on the day they move in. So before you even list your home for sale, it might be a good idea to consider spending some money on maintenance and repairs that buyers expect to be taken care of before they see the home for the first time. 

If you aren’t sure what kind of repairs you should make, you can speak to your real estate agent. Kern suggests meeting with your listing agent a few months before you’re ready to pull the trigger, but at least three or four weeks. 

“Every time I meet with a seller, I recommend things that will add value to the property,” Kern says. “If I don’t believe that a dollar spent will come back as two dollars, I don’t recommend it.” 

According to Kern, sellers typically get the money that they spend on worthwhile repairs back in the sales price. In addition, avoiding necessary repairs could lead to prolonged negotiations and credits, which can slow the entire process down. 

One thing you may want to save your money on is a pre-listing inspection. 

“The challenge with hiring a home inspector before you list is that not all home inspectors are equal,” Kern says. “I’m not a huge fan of pre-inspections because there are too many unknowns. I think it’s imperative for a buyer to hire a home inspector, and spend money on a good one. I think a seller’s money is better spent on maintenance, repairs and preparing the home for sale.”

After you have decluttered, deep cleaned and necessary repairs are complete, you can move on to staging your home. Staging is an important step in the home selling process because it shows the scale of the rooms in photos and allows buyers to see how the rooms can be used. For some, staging can be simplified by using their existing furniture, but others may want to consider investing in a staging service. 

The cost to stage a home varies depending on the size of your home and your location, but according to Angi, the average US homeowner spends almost $2,000 on staging services. This may be a worthwhile investment, though. Most staged homes sell over the listing price and typically spend less time on the market, according to Architectural Digest. 

“Staging is important to help show people how they will live in the house,” Kern says. “Empty rooms can be difficult for people to conceptualize, but minimally furnished is an ideal situation where you don’t have to move furniture to move around the room.”

Frequently circulated advice for home sellers is to paint your home in a neutral color when preparing to sell. Kern agrees with this advice. “If you’re going to paint, bring the tone down,” he says. “It’s expensive, but you’ll get back that investment. And paint all the same color – no one wants three or four colors in a single room.” 

It’s important to use the professionals at your disposal during the home selling process. As a homeowner, it’s not your job to understand the ins and outs of the real estate market, or even what the best layout is for staging. You can lean on the advice of your real estate agent, stager, and anyone else you hire along the way to guide you in the right direction. 

“I view our role as one of education. It’s about honesty, transparency and keeping an open line of communication,” Kern says. “We let our clients know what’s going on in the market and their neighborhood. I will give constructive feedback every time I’m in your home.” 

Kern sees his clients as his business partners. Part of that partnership is providing advice to homeowners on how to make their home as presentable and approachable as possible. Sometimes that means telling homeowners not to cook stinky food right before showings and to clean up after their pets. Other times, it’s about keeping the home comfortable and making sure there’s enough room in the driveway so that buyers can access the home without any trouble. 

“It’s about maximizing the experience for the buyer,” he says. “You don’t always get a second shot.” 

Because your real estate agent will be a go-to resource when you embark on the home selling process, you want to make sure that you take the time to find the right agent for you. 

According to the National Association of Realtors’ Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, 71% of buyers speak with just one agent during their search for a new home, meaning they went with the first person they found. As a seller, it might behoove you to interview several agents before choosing someone to represent your home. 

“It’s important to hire the right agents and not just look at the price,” Kern says. “Hire the person you think is going to be the best for you, then worry about what the price will be.” 

Kern says he’s seen sellers go with the agent who tells them the highest price they’ll get for the home, but this isn’t always the best method. It’s better to pick someone who is honest about the state of the market rather than the agent who tells you what you want to hear. 

“I work for you,” Kern says. “You make the final decisions. It’s my job to educate on the direction we go.” 

The most important steps in preparing your home for sale involve getting your home ready for showings and simplifying the close. The steps involved can sometimes rack up costs and be time consuming, but they’re well worth the money and time. 

A home that is well prepared before listing often spends less time on the market, and could net a higher return on investment. 

Kern suggests reaching out to agents several months before you’re ready to sell. A generous time frame will give you plenty of time to go through all the necessary steps required to prepare your home. Your agent is there to guide you along the way and help discern where you should invest your time and money. 

Even if you aren’t looking to sell your home, maintaining your home and property will pay off in the long run. Your future self will thank you for keeping up on proper maintenance.