Welcome to Summary School

Use this Unique Plan to Sell your Atlanta Home

Hello , today is a follow up to the 5 Steps to Sell Your Home for Top Dollar. We are going to dive into specific action on getting your home ready to sell.

Getting your home ready to go on the market is a major part of appealing to the right buyer and to uncovering what is important to you in your next home. To better understand why it’s important to clean, pack and de-clutter prior to listing watch the video on Pre-List Prep Plan.

Now, let’s layout some action items in a four-step plan. Step 1 is to tackle your personal property, Step 2 is to deal with the Exterior, Step 3 is improve the Interior, Step 4 is to attach a timeline to the items in each step.

Step 1 –Let’s tackle all your Personal Property because it includes items on the Interior and Exterior. Plus, dealing with your stuff will make the other steps easier.

Start by dividing your personal stuff into three groups; Keep It, Trash It, Transfer It.

Trash it is often the easiest group, If the item is damaged, dangerous, of no value to you or someone else, then throw it away.

Transfer It is the next option, you can transfer by either Donating It or Selling it. This is the pile of your stuff that still has value, just not for you. Find a friend, family member, or local organization to donate those items. If you would rather sell the stuff, use apps like FB marketplace, Craigslist, or LetGo to quickly post, price and describe what you have. Use the funds to pay for packing supplies!

Finally, the Keep It group, which includes Keep it and Need It now or Keep it and Need it Later. You will probably keep most of your items but you might not need them now, keep out what you need now, Box up the items you won’t need until later.

You can apply the Keep It, Trash It, Transfer It rules to the interior and exterior. One of the keys to success is to choose a small, easy place to complete, like an interior closet or a workbench, and work on it until its finished.

Continue this process until you have most of your stuff segmented and packed. You may find it easier to move packed boxes into a storage unit or have a pod delivered for loading. Getting the boxes out of your way will help you continue to progress through your entire home.

Now that you have most of your personal items taken care of you can better see what items need attention on the interior or exterior of your home. In either location, decide what needs to be done and whether you are going to take care of it yourself or you are going to hire help.

Step 2 – Let’s deal with the exterior items that regularly need attention:

1. Manage the landscaping and lawn
2. Prune trees and shrubbery off the house.
3. Clean the gutters and downspouts.
4. Pressure wash the house, walkways and other sections.
5. Freshen the mulch and add seasonal color.
6. The mailbox is often the first thing the buyer sees, make sure it looks good and has visible numbers.
7. The front door, this item is important! A potential buyer is standing at the front door, looking around and inspecting your home while the agent is getting the door unlocked. Make a great impression by painting or staining the door, installing new knobs, new doorbell, add a new welcome mat, clean the light fixture.

Your home may need more, or less, work depending on the situation and how regularly you maintain the exterior. Talk with your real estate professional about which items are most important for your scenario.

Step 3 – Improve the Interior. The following interior improvement items apply in most situations but, we aren’t going to cover remodeling or renovations here.

1. Once your personal items are out of the way you will begin to see your house differently. This is the time to evaluate what needs to be fixed or replaced. Maintenance items usually come up with a buyer or home inspector so better to deal with them in advance.
2. Appeal to the masses by removing extreme paint colors, furniture pieces, artwork or other eccentricities that might turn off a strong buyer.
3. Clean everything and then clean it again. Ceiling to floor, top to bottom, windows, HVAC vents, door frames, cabinets, drawers, knobs and switch plates. A home for sale can’t be too clean.
4. Replace light bulbs and make sure the fixtures are also clean to brighten up the home.
5. Pay attention to smells you might not regularly notice. Cleaning will help but consider soft pleasant aromas. Scented candles, plug ins and similar items can often have a negative effect on how a buyer evaluates your home, so choose wisely

At this point you might feel like most people and be a little overwhelmed. Don’t worry, once you start the process it will become easier and a way to help is to put the tasks on a schedule.

Step 4 – Scheduling the Steps.

Set your start date to tackle the first section, time how long it took to complete and then use that information to schedule the rest of the tasks. Once you know how long it will take, you can calculate when your home will be ready to list. Be sure to plan for schedule disruptions as well. If you find it might take you too long or that you want your home on the market sooner, then don’t be afraid to hire help. There are companies that specifically deal with each of these items and can help you accomplish your timeline goals.

So, that is my pre-list home prep plan. Break it into Sections and Schedule the process. Be sure to let me know if you found this information helpful.