There are several reasons that you may find yourself needing to sell your home. You may need to relocate for a new and exciting job or you may have a growing family and need more space. It could be that you are getting older, all your children have moved out, and you are realizing that you do not need as much space as you have and may even want to relocate to a new location to enjoy your golden years.
What to Consider Before Putting Your Home on the Market?
Once you decide it is time to sell your home there are a few considerations you should take the time to make before diving head-first into the process.
Timeline
Knowing what you need the timeline of your relocation to be is something that you need to decide before selling your home. If you have to relocate within a month and are unable to sell your home quickly that will be an added expense that can eat into the gross profit you will make on the sale of your home.
Set a Repair Budget
Making repairs and improvements to your home can increase the value of your home and make it sell quicker. Most people that are looking to buy a home want it to be completely move-in ready. You can sell a home that is in need of repairs, but it will normally set on the market a lot longer. So if you need to relocate quickly you will want to make repairs.
Decide Your Homes Worth
To get an idea of what you can expect for your home to sell for, you will want to find out info on homes that have sold in your area recently. You will want to find homes of a similar size, age, and condition to your own to get comparable prices. You can also get a good idea of how long those homes set on the market before selling.
Decide What Repair Must Be Made
Walk through your home like you were about to buy it. Look over everything like it is the first time you are seeing it and you are about to spend your life savings to buy it. If anything stands out to you that would make you second guess that choice, that is one of the first repairs you should make.
There are additions and upgrades that you can add to your home to increase the value. You have to weigh the pros and cons of those projects. Sometimes something a simple as a fresh coat of paint and new outlets can raise the value more than you pay to finish the project. Your home should be a picture-perfect as possible.
Weigh Pros and Cons of Using a Real Estate Agent
If you have the time to show your home and are in no hurry to relocate putting your house on the market as a “For Sale by Owner” may be a good fit for you. When you go this route you will have a bigger net profit from the sale but you will have to do all the legwork.
Most people choose to go with an agent for the convenience of having a professional handling all of the showings and marketing. There are however several companies online that you should explore before you sell your home. They can assist you in many ways that an agent would for a low flat fee, instead of the percentage of the final sale like an agent.
Make A Plan
Now that you know what you need to figure out before starting the process of selling your home, it is time for you to start making your plan. Start by deciding how fast you want to sell your home. Are there repairs that have to be made before you list your home?
Do your research so that you have a good idea of what your home is worth. You can find records of the sales of homes near you online. Last but not least decide if you want to sell your home on your own and make more money or if you would prefer the help of a professional that may be able to sell your home more quickly. No matter what this a huge change so take the time to do it right.