How to prepare your home for sale
One of the reasons so many people delay selling their home is that the steps involved can be so overwhelming. Below are a few steps that we are taking as we prepare to sell our north Scottsdale home:
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Make a list. We’ve made a list of things which have to be done and then divided them into two categories: those we can do and those we have to hire out. In the “we have to hire out column,” we got estimates, looked over our budget and determined which ones to do first and in what month. We already had the outside of the home painted last week. In February, we will have the minor spots in the pool pebbletec repaired. In March, the the carpets are to be cleaned.
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In the we can do column: declutter, declutter, declutter. Having lived in our current home over 10 years, things have a way of accumulating. I’m taking one room at a time. Starting with the closet (yes, potential homeowners will most likely open every single closet door,) I’m throwing out things of no value, putting things in a box to take to various charities or packing seasonal things into moving boxes. Anything I’m keeping is going into one previously cleaned out closet. I’m working at a pace of only one room per week which will fall in line with my goal date of listing my home and having all the repairs for which I have to pay completed.
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Wash the windows - interior and exterior. This is another potentially
daunting task but my husband is doing the exteriors today and will do the interiors next week - again, spacing out the work. If this is something you can’t do, then move this to the pay someone to do column. But, clean windows is so often over looked and nothing says a maintained home like bright beautiful sunshine streaming in.
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Have my home staged. This will be done two weeks prior to my list date. I know I’d fall in love with my home all over again once the stager does her magic so I don’t want to get emotionally involved. Now that we’ve made the decision to sell, my home is a business transaction and I want to make the best financial decisions to net me the highest amount possible.
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Set the date for the home to be listed. With a set date, we have a timeline to accomplish everything we need to get done to earn us the highest possible dollar when selling our home AND this keeps us on track.
By spacing out the to-do list AND by setting a goal date, we’re not as overwhelmed with the tasks and know we are capable of accomplishing everything we want to finish to have the highest return.
I hope these few steps will help you when you’re deciding to sell your home. For other ideas and suggestions, give me a call - I’ll be glad to help you prepare your Scottsdale/Cave Creek/north Phoenix home for sale.
