Getting Your House Ready to Sell

What makes one house go on the market, have a number of showings in the first month  and have a contract in place shortly thereafter, while an apparently similar house sits on the market for months? Of course, luck may have a little to do with it, but there is a good chance that the quick selling house (and its owner) was prepared to sell while the other house and owner were not. Although pricing is a very important factor there are other issues that will have a great deal of effect on whether or not you have a quick sale.
 

 Steps for Helping Your House to Sell Quickly

Prepare yourself to sell your house. Do your best to see the house, no longer as your home, but as a product to be marketed. Disconnect Your Emotions. This takes some work, especially if you have been in the home for a number of years and have many memories there, but it is necessary if you want to maximize your potential.

Get the flaws, leaks and necessary repairs fixed before you put the house on the market. Do what is necessary to make your property stand out from the competition. Make certain that your house is fresher, cleaner, and better maintained. Remove most of the "imprint" that you have made on the house. Having a few family pictures around is fine, but if your house is a "shrine" to your family--walls full of personal pictures--you should take some steps to depersonalize it. Buyers must be able to envision themselves in the house, which is difficult  if everywhere they turn they stare at you! Make your house anonymous. You need to think of your house as a marketable commodity. Real Estate. Your goal is to get others to see it as their potential home, not yours.


The First Step - Removing Clutter
The Most Important Room in the House: The kitchen. Fresh clean tidy kitchen. Get everything off the counters. There is nothing that turns buyers off like a clutter oily untidy kitchen.

The Rest of the House : Fixing Up the House Interior
Cost of Repairs : Plumbing & Fixtures, Ceiling, Walls & Painting, Carpets & Flooring. Windows & Doors.

Lastly, make the house accessible. That means it's always ready to show. Many buyers won't bother seeing a house that takes 24 hours to get into. If you are a busy person, make arrangement for your agent to show the house to their prospective purchaser at a few hours notice.

Pricing

Along with location and condition, the pricing of a house is a major component of the reasons why a house will or will not sell quickly. Although the pricing should not be dealt with lightly, some sellers have a tendency to put too much emphasis on the price and not enough on the condition, ending up with a house that is overpriced for its current condition and the overall market.