When you prepare your home for sale, it's essential to detach from the house emotionally, so you can understand what buyers are looking for and their potential concerns.
Making the extra effort to prepare it for sale will improve your chances of success. Prepping your home could mean anything from making necessary repairs to performing a deep clean, and while it can be a lot of work, your efforts will be well worth it if they result in more offers and a faster sale. I've consulted with experts and researched market conditions, buyer trends, and step-by-step guides to compile every touchpoint covered in this checklist on preparing your home for sale. Follow these simple tips when preparing your home for sale to attract the most interest — and the best offers.

Purge, pack, and store

When you decide to prepare your home for sale, the first order of business is to start packing and purging immediately. To avoid feeling like your entire life and home are upside-down, outline a strategy to keep you organized. Below is a checklist of the most important things to tackle during this process:

Go through every room and collect items you want to donate, throw out or sell
Do this before you start packing to save both money and work. Since determining what you should get rid of or keep can be a painstaking task, here are some tips to help you with this.

Take an inventory of all your belongings
Taking stock while you're moving not only helps you keep track of everything, it'll serve double duty as an inventory to save for homeowners insurance purposes.

Label everything
Too many clients leave boxes unlabeled and stick them in the basement, thinking, "Oh, we'll go through these later." And they end up collecting dust, never to be opened again. 

Pack a suitcase full of items you want to hold onto during the moving process
This includes necessities, valuable and sentimental items like family heirlooms, and important documents.

Save time and keep your items safe and damage-free through the entire process
Proper packing techniques will help you prepare your home for sale more than you think. If it looks like you take good care of your possessions, buyers will likely assume you have taken the same approach with the house.
 

Declutter and depersonalize

Once you pack, it's time to clear out all the clutter in the house so you can showcase your home in a simplified manner.

Declutter in an organized way

When you prepare your home for sale, there needs to be enough room for buyers and agents to move around, so you cannot have boxes. In addition, clutter can be visually unappealing and impede potential buyers from seeing themselves living in the house. For items, you need to hold onto, find a few decorative boxes that can be kept out of sight yet still easily accessible. Consider renting a storage unit. 

Depersonalize

Depersonalizing goes a step further than decluttering by removing any signs of you and your family's presence in the time so that the buyer can envision themselves and their belongings in the home. When you prepare your home for sale, depersonalizing is important because it removes distractions that could keep the buyer from focusing on the house itself. Removing items such as your family photos or loud furniture is best. 
 

Deep clean

A deep clean never fails to solicit buyer comments like the house feels solid, well-maintained, or meticulously cared for — even if the house is outdated. 
You can hire a professional if you wish, but that will cost you between $150 and $250, with most homeowners paying $221 on average for cleaning an average-sized house, according to Fixr.com. 

If you decide to take on this project yourself, ensure you are thorough. When cleaning, it's best to take on one task at a time and perform it through the entire house before moving to the next job. And while you may not be quite able to disguise your lived-in house as brand new, when you are trying to prepare your home for sale, you really must go the extra mile. Consider removing dust bunnies and carpet stains, scrubbing your appliances inside and out, wiping down baseboards and door handles, unclogging the drains, sterilizing and descaling faucets and shower heads, and cleaning out the garbage disposal!
Remember, when you prepare your home for sale, those coming to see it are not simply guests for the evening; they will be looking for potential problems and signs of negligence in the maintenance of the home. 
 

Curb appeal is king

Curb appeal is significant, as it determines the buyer's first impression when they approach the home or view its exterior in photographs. To prepare your home for sale, clear your yard of debris (and any unwelcome surprises if you are a pet owner), mow the lawn (cut it short but don't go overboard), and trim back bushes with electric hedge clippers. If you do some planting, it's wise to apply mulch liberally and use low-maintenance flowers like perennials.
If your exterior paint is faded or flaking, or your house cracks, wood rot, or other water damage, these are all signs that it would be wise to paint the exterior when you prepare your home for sale.
Good landscaping increases home value. According to a recent study, landscaping increased home values from 4% to 12%, depending on the level of landscaping quality.
 

Identify necessary repairs

Normal wear and tear are expected if you have lived in your home for several years. Minor problems like a chipped shower tile or a dripping kitchen faucet may not affect your day-to-day life. But visible problems are noticeable to buyers. House hunters might see them as a signal that more significant issues may exist beneath the surface.

Consider getting a pre-listing home inspection to ensure that your home is up to par with needed repairs and maintenance. It can be money well spent since recent data from the National Association of Realtors® (NAR) reported that home inspection issues were responsible for 11% of delayed contracts and 9% of contract terminations in 2021.

Creating a plan to determine which home repairs are necessary, and address them adequately, is one of the best things to do to prepare your house for sale. Walk through your home and list all noticeable imperfections, no matter how minor they may seem. Then consult with your real estate agent, who can help you prioritize the list and determine which issues will be necessary to prospective buyers — and which will not.

Upgrades

When preparing your home for sale, some upgrades can increase the value of your home, and there is a range of areas you can choose to enhance for future buyers. For example, kitchen updates are a big selling point for homebuyers, such as updating the backsplash, upgrading appliances, and installing new light fixtures.

Energy-efficient upgrades like a new HVAC system can save buyers money over the long term. According to data from late 2020, 47% of real estate agents nationwide have seen homebuyers increasingly prioritize energy-efficient features in their home search. 

If you are handy and have the skills to fix specific issues such as plumbing or landscaping or want to do DIY projects such as painting the walls in some key rooms a neutral color, this may be a cost-efficient way to increase the value of your home. 

Staging

When it comes to impressing house hunters, first impressions matter, the goal is to make your home as appealing as possible to as many people as possible, which is why many sellers hire professional stagers to get the space looking picture-perfect.

Staging is the art of highlighting your home's features without drowning them out, creating an attractive vision to help buyers to see your house as their future home. And while it may seem simple, staging is a skill, so consider hiring a professional.

In many cases, expert staging can allow sellers to forgo expensive updates and instead bring out the best in their homes as is. In a recent report, agents stated that staged homes sell 6% to 10% quicker than unstaged homes. And a recent survey by the National Association of Realtors® revealed that 18% of seller's agents said staging increased the dollar value of a home by 6%-10%.

If you choose to DIY your staging, below are some tips:

• Don't cook with intense aromas the night before a showing or open house.

• Use neutral colors and simple items like a teapot next to the master bed, a flameless lantern, and a vase of flowers in the front hallway.

• Outdoor staging is just as necessary, using tools like the proper lighting, adjusting furniture arrangements, and reviving tired flower beds.

With a top-producing real estate agent at your side and a solid game plan, you can successfully sell your home and make a seamless transition to the next stage of your life. When you prepare your home for sale, remember to research, buy the right supplies, take your time, and hire a handyperson if you need extra help.
 

Gather all the documents needed

One of the essential steps to prep a house for sale is keeping track of necessary paperwork. Some of the documents you'll need to sell your home include the following:

• Mortgage payoff statement: As its name suggests, this document states the exact amount needed to pay off your mortgage loan in full, including interest and fees. Title companies often request the payoff statement from your lender before completing the sale.

• Homeowners insurance: Carrying homeowners insurance is likely a requirement of your mortgage loan, with coverage to continue until the close of escrow.

• HOA documents: If your home is part of a homeowners association, gather all your information regarding its rules and financial standing. HOA disclosures can be complicated, so you should consult a real estate attorney if you are unsure what to include and what not to do.

• Property tax records: You should provide receipts to show what taxes on your property are still outstanding. Before closing on the property, buyers must be able to understand and estimate the cost of property taxes on their new home.

• State disclosure forms: Most states have standard disclosure forms that home sellers must fill out, detailing any knowledge of problems with the property or structure. Some are very detailed and lengthy — consult with your agent to ensure yours is filled out and filed correctly.

• Records of repairs and maintenance: Finally, consider the importance of keeping and disclosing proper home maintenance and repair accounts. You want to prove that essential repairs were made and when.
   

Find a Real Estate Professional

Working with a top agent can be one of the most critical steps to take as you prepare your home for sale. If you've been through the home-buying process, you already know how complicated a real estate transaction can be. 

Interviewing real estate agents is the best way to find one that will work for you.

Here are a few questions to get you started:

• What's your marketing plan for a property like mine?

• What's your response time, and how often will you be in touch?

• What is your commission rate? 

• If I pick you, what's the first thing we need to do to get started?

• How many open houses will you do? How do you handle prep work and staging for open houses and showings?

• Are you familiar with the neighborhood?

While interviewing candidates, ask them to prepare a CMA (comparative marketing analysis) for your house that dates back six months to a year. The CMA will help you determine a suggested list price for your property.

With my years of experience, I can help you identify enhancements specific to your home to best prepare for the market. You can also utilize my homegrown network of professionals you will likely need when you prepare to sell your home, from stagers to landscapers, contractors, photographers, and beyond. So put some thought into the professional you choose. If you decide to let me represent you, my number one priority is to help you sell your home to a qualified buyer for the highest market price in the quickest, most convenient timeline.