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5 Steps to get your Alpharetta home sold for TOP Dollar

Today we are discussing one of the most important first steps as a seller and investor to sell your home for top dollar, Preparing your Home for the Market.

You’ve made the decision to move, you’ve started looking at houses, talked with a lender and you have a great real estate professional to guide you. But, you are avoiding tackling the project of getting your house ready to sell because it feels so overwhelming and it takes so much time. Let’s fix that:

Following a Pre-List Prep Plan can help you overcome those obstacles so you can sell your home faster, easier and for more money. Let’s talk about the 5 steps in the Pre-List Prep Plan.

1. You need to pack. This might seem obvious, packing is a necessary part of moving and it’s best to start early. By packing up the unnecessary, unwanted, off-season and personal items in your home you are going to help yourself in these key areas:
   • It will help you see the areas in need of renovation or maintenance
   • Those renovations will be cheaper and faster when tradesmen don’t have to move or work around your things
   • It depersonalizes your home so Buyers can picture themselves living there.
   • A packed-up home seems larger, appears to have adequate storage and is felt to be better maintained.
   • Packing also shows buyers you are serious about selling and gives them confidence in your list price.
2. Fix it and Fix it now. Parts of your home wear out and need maintenance, everyone knows and understands those situations. If those issues exist for too long though the problems begin to multiply.
   • A pre-listing home inspection is a great way to get a professional point of view on what to focus your efforts on.
   • A homebuyer might not itemize every problem with a home, but they often keep a sub-conscious tally of all the defects and issues. If enough of those occur, your home gets filtered to the general Not Interested file in the Buyer’s mind.
   • Buyers, Agents, Inspectors & Appraisers are going to be evaluating the condition of your home. Well maintained homes will sell for more money in less time and are more likely to close.
3. Clean it deep, clean it again, clean it constantly. Have you ever been to a restaurant and sat down at a dirty table? Crumbs left behind, water droplets from a glass, maybe some crayons and silverware on the floor. It’s not the experience you want or expect when you go out to eat. Now, imagine a buyer coming to your home, How are they going to feel walking in and what are their expectations?
   • Start by deep cleaning the home. Hiring a professional cleaner goes a long way because they follow a standardized process providing a more thorough cleaning. A good cleaning should erase months or even years of dirt, dust and grime.
   • Several days after that initial deep clean, dust will settle, boxes are being packed and everyday life is still occurring. The home will need another cleaning before going on the market. This is more of a standard weekly clean either by you or a professional.
   • Once your property is on the market you will hopefully have constant traffic through the home. Be prepared for frequent maintenance cleans, especially at the entry points.
4. Hide your valuables and important items. Before the first contractor, inspector or potential buyer walks through your home be sure to take care of these important items:
   • Cash
   • Jewelry
   • Guns
   • Medicine
   • Important Documents
   • Credit Cards
   • And any sensitive items that might be tempting for others
5. Make your home Inviting. The home has been packed, maintenance items are fixed, its clean and no one is going to steal your important stuff. Now, let’s focus on appealing to Buyers. The goal is to have great curb appeal and to continue that appeal throughout the home. These are great questions to ask yourself:
   • Does the mailbox, front porch and front door look nice? Can it be improved?
   • Does the home smell good and look clutter free when a new set of eyes comes in?
   • Does the house flow smoothly with coordinated paint and flooring schemes?
   • Does the furniture work for the space? Is it easy for buyers to walk around?
   • Finally, does the home have a main feature that should be highlighted?

Alright, those are my 5 main points for your Pre-List Prep Plan! The key here is to consider your home from a buyer’s perspective. Ask yourself, what you would like to see in the home are you trying to buy, does your home meet that same criteria?