So, you’ve decided to take the plunge and sell your home. For some of us, this was an easy decision to make. In fact, more people than ever now buy houses with the sole intention to sell on as soon as possible. But for some of us, parting with our homes can be an emotional ordeal, especially if we are living somewhere with real sentimental significance to us such as our parent’s home. One thing is for sure, though – whatever camp you fall into, selling your home is not always an easy thing to do. Sometimes, you have to deal with flaky buyers who back out at the last minute. Other times, you have plenty of solid offers, but you feel uncomfortable giving your beloved home to someone who you know plans to pretty much demolish the whole thing and start again. So, in order to sell your home with the least amount of hassle possible, here are some things you can do to make the process a little easier.
Consider whether to do it yourself
Whether to sell your home yourself or to leave it to an estate agent is a big cause of contention for a lot of people – but, truly, it is completely up to you. A lot of people like the autonomy they get over the sale when they do it themselves. But it needs to be learnt that there is a lot more hard work involved when you sell your house yourself, as you are responsible for all the paperwork and all the marketing too. Plus, you will always need to be in for viewings, which can cause a problem for those of us who work full time. When you hire an estate agent, they tend to do all that for you; but of course, you lose a lot of the power you have with selling it yourself. The best thing to do is to make a list of all the pros and cons and see which one works best for you.
Decide what to invest your money on
Most people don’t sell their houses without doing at least a little bit of work on it first. Those DIY jobs you’ve been putting off for months on end? Yep, now is the time to sort them out once and for all. A lick of paint never goes amiss when you are putting your home on the market, and neither does some safety/structural work. For example, if you live in a notoriously cold part of the world, a prospective buyer will value your home more if you have taken the time to weather-proof it. Simple things, such as adding water line heat tape to your pipes, cake make all the difference when it comes to making a sale.
Choose a realistic price
Knowing how much to sell your home for is a tricky one. You don’t want to alienate buyers in your area, but you also don’t want to do yourself a disservice and undercut yourself in terms of price. Even if you don’t intend on selling your property with an estate agent, it is worth contacting one anyway to get a look into prices in your area. That way you will be able to see an average selling price and you can increase or decrease your own as you see fit.
