
A Complete Home Seller's Checklist

Selling a home is a challenging and time-consuming task for the thousands of homeowners that decide to do it every year. While selling can be stressful in itself, the preparation involved is oftentimes more stressful than the actual sale. To help you navigate this process, the experts at Amy Stockberger Real Estate (ASRE) have developed a home seller’s checklist.
Four To Six Months Before Listing
Selling a home in Sioux Falls shouldn’t be a spur-of-the-moment decision. If you’re serious about selling, you should take the time to do it properly. The tasks you complete four to six months before listing will reduce most of the stress associated with selling a home. Of course, there are mitigating circumstances that can prevent you from having six months of prep time. In these instances, complete the following tasks as soon as you know you want to sell.
Assess Your Home’s Condition
The first—and perhaps the most critical part—of preparing your home for a successful sale is to assess your home’s condition. Living in a house for any period of time can make you blind to its faults. The longer you’ve lived there, the more vision-impaired you’ll be. Doing an assessment enables you to take an unbiased look at your property and focus on key areas that require improvement.
Prepare Crucial Documentation
Having necessary documentation on hand gives you (and potential buyers) peace of mind. It also means that if buyers have questions you can answer them accurately to help expedite the sale. As you get closer to listing your home, you should have copies of the home warranty, permits for renovations, and land surveys, as well as tax and utility bills readily available. To understand how much you'll be profiting from the sale, you should also have a copy of the remaining home loan balance.
Hire the Right Realtor®
The right Realtor® is the difference between an extended sale without any reasonable offers and a quick, profitable sale. To find the Sioux Falls Realtor that's best for you, take a closer look at expertise, past sales, and most importantly, the experience previous clients have had. You can also inquire about whether they have potential buyers available before deciding to list.
Two Months Before Listing
The 60 days leading up to listing your home is when you'll need to take action that will determine how well your house will do when it hits the market. These tasks won’t always take two months to complete, but once they're complete, it's time to list your home.
Get An Accurate Valuation
Home valuations are one of the most reliable means of determining the final sale price of your house. Your Realtor will oftentimes provide a valuation based on applicable sales comps and historical data for properties similar to yours. If your Realtor does the valuation, now would be the ideal time to ask about any minor renovations you can complete to increase the value of your home.
Repair, Clean, and Declutter Your Home
In order to maximize your home's value, repairs are critical. Home repairs that you may consider to be minor can have a significant impact on the selling price of your home. Many buyers aren’t willing to invest the time or resources to fix even easy repairs. Additionally, buyers who are willing to put in the time to fix minor repairs will probably want deep discounts. Unless you want to discount your home for a leaky faucet or a squeaky step, dedicate the next month or so to going over your home and completing any necessary repairs.
Once the repairs are completed, you can move onto cleaning and decluttering your home. If you don’t have enough space to neatly store your belongings, consider renting a storage unit for a month or two.
The Time of Listing
All your hard work is starting to pay off—it’s time to list!
List at the Right Price
You probably discussed the price of your home with a Realtor before listing. However, now is the time to seal the deal and put a dollar amount on your house. A lot may have changed from the time you hired your Realtor to the time of listing. Therefore, you should try your best to correctly price your home right out of the gate. If you want to expedite the sale, choose a listing price that will garner more attention and offers. This is always a better option than having unrealistic expectations that could turn away serious buyers.
Stage Your Home
The final step to an advantageous sale is staging your home. Many sellers choose to stage their homes because it can add as much as 10% to the final sale price. Staging is a strategic approach that essentially turns your home into a blank canvas, allowing buyers to envision the best use of the space and (most importantly) picture themselves residing in the home.
In a competitive market, completing this home selling checklist is your best bet at securing top dollar for your home. If you’re thinking of selling your home in Sioux Falls, the team at Amy Stockberger Real Estate is ready to guide you through the process in order to help you attain an expeditious and profitable sale.
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