A Home Improvement Checklist Before Listing Your Property

Listing your home is an exciting time. Even for an HGTV addict, it can also be stressful, full of showings and working with potential buyers (and their demands). As the seller, you want to ensure that buyers see your home’s true potential and aren’t distracted by the work and cleaning they might have to do. 

That’s why before you put your home on the market, it’s time to get busy and make some improvements that can help you get the most cash for your house. Fortunately, you don’t have to spend months or thousands of dollars to get your home market-ready. Take a look at our checklist and see what you can do today. 

What Can You Do To Earn Top Dollar?

Find a Real Estate Agent You Can Trust 

You may be wondering why you should hire a real estate agent who will take some of your profit, especially in a seller’s market. Real estate agents are licensed professionals who understand the market’s demands and have years of experience buying and selling homes. They don’t just do this a handful of times during their lives. They do it every day. 

They also have in-depth local knowledge about neighborhoods, schools, districts, and homes that you need to know when buying. These are things that might be hard to find or difficult to understand as a novice home buyer. 

Real estate agents are also used to dealing with demanding homeowners or other agents. They can handle intense negotiations because it is their job. Besides, they know who is buying and selling in the area, which can mean a faster sale of your house. As a result, selling with an experienced real estate agent can increase your profit on your home. 

Declutter Like a Pro

You don’t have to KonMari your whole house, but you do need to take a hard look at the sources of clutter in your home. If your home has messy surfaces, buyers will have a hard time imagining their furnishings there. And they won’t want to rent a storage room if it looks like there is not enough space. They’ll move on to the next house.

For that reason, you need to do the work and get piles of mail, magazines, clothes, laundry, toys, knickknacks, pet items, small exercise equipment, food on the counters, bottles in the bathroom, and other clutter, out of sight. 

Make a sweep of your flat surfaces, and then look at what is behind closed doors. Remember that interested buyers look everywhere. 

If you don’t feel like throwing things away or donating items, you can store them off-site in a storage locker. Consider it an advantage in the move. Some of your boxes will already be packed!  

Depersonalize Your Home 

As with the previous point, a buyer wants to walk into your home and imagine their life there. If they see pictures of your happy family, that might be a challenge. We aren’t recommending you put away your children’s school photos or family vacation photos on the fridge, foreverーjust until you are done with house showings. 

If you have art that is very personal or even controversial, this is an excellent time to remove it, as well. 

A Fresh Coat of Paint 

Sure, you probably loved your purple bedroom when you painted it, but a buyer might internally cringe. Painting is a high return on investment and lower-cost modification that you can make that helps buyers envision what their walls will look like. Don’t go crazy with the new color. Choose something neutral. Gray has been a popular option lately. 

Painting is easily something that you can do-it-yourself if you know how to do it. You could also choose a smaller area to touch up and save money.