There is a lot to consider when you feel it’s time to sell your home—from finding a new place to live if you have not already done so to dealing with inspections and agents, there’s a lot of stress. This article will hopefully relieve some of that stress by reminding you of some important tasks that need to be done.
We’ll cover everything you need to keep in mind, from what to watch for before the inspection, to finding the problem yourself to deep cleaning and decluttering. If the problems seem too large to take care of on your own, you may need to hire a repair company to help, such as a restoration company Denver, Colorado.
While it may be expensive, so is owning a home that can’t be sold due to damage. Before we get too ahead of ourselves, though, let’s start by discussing common home repairs required before listing.
Watch for These Common Problems
Before your home can be listed, it must be inspected by a professional to make sure that there are no serious repairs that must be done. Before this inspection is conducted, you can do a little one of your own. You can look at some of the most common inspection findings to discover what areas of your home probably deserve extra scrutiny.
For example, the most common finding and the most expensive repairs involve the roof. During a sunny day, you could climb up and carefully inspect the roof for obvious signs of damage, such as missing shingles. When it rains, you could pay attention to see if you hear any potential leaks.
If you have one, you could even climb up into the attic and see if anything looks off from that angle. Once you’ve discovered a problem, you can decide if you can fix it yourself or need to call a professional and get the ball rolling on that.
Inspecting your home must be one of the first things you do, as repairs can be costly in both time and money. By getting the ball rolling early, you can adequately set aside money to pay for it and hopefully have all repairs completed long before you’re ready for an inspection.
While you may miss some things and still have to fix an issue or two found by the professional before you can list, at least you took care of some of them beforehand.
Make Decluttering Quick and Simple
Once you’ve got the ball rolling by setting up repair appointments, you can jump into cleaning and packing. We’ve decided to list decluttering before deep cleaning since there will be less to clean if there is less in your home, though you could do them in whichever order works best for you.
Decluttering can be a tedious and exhausting process, with some rooms even being emotionally difficult based on what you’re sorting through, but there are ways to simplify decluttering. One big thing to do isn’t to think about decluttering your entire home all at once. Instead, decide which room you’d like to do and which area of the room you’ll start with.
Once this has been decided, you’ll need to find a way to sort various items—and you can do this with piles or containers like tubs or bags, so long as it’s easily accessible and you can tell the locations apart. You’ll then need to sort through and decide which items to keep, which need to be repaired or relocated, and which need to be donated or tossed.
Some easy places to start may be the pantry or medicine cabinet, as you’ll be able to tell which items you do and don’t need or want easily, which is also aided by the expiration labels.
Clean Everything
Once the repairs are complete and the decluttering is done, it’s finally time to start deep cleaning. Remember, you’re not cleaning to make the house better for you to live in; you’re trying to entice someone else to move in. As a result, some of the areas you either commonly miss or don’t clean very often need to be tackled.
For example, while you frequently vacuum your floors, when was the last time you took the extension and ran it up along the doorway or in the corners of your rooms? Doing this can catch any cobwebs and other unwanted debris that you may otherwise miss that might be noticed by potential buyers.
You’ll also want to take down and clean any light fixtures, such as ceiling light covers or bathroom fan/light combinations. As you do this, you’ll also want to replace any light bulbs that have burnt out.
Similar to decluttering, you may want to take this room by room instead of considering the entire house at once. For example, maybe you could start with any upstairs rooms or bedrooms before tackling the spots that need your entire focus, like the bathroom. Doing this will make your deep cleaning days go by quicker and with less stress.
Consider Other Vital Tasks
These aren’t the only things to consider when you decide to sell your home. There is a list of other duties you’ll need to attend to. Some of these duties include researching the housing price in your area, having your home inspected, contacting a listing agent, and more.
Some are small, like ensuring there are more light bulbs present in case a light goes out during an open house viewing, while others can be a huge undertaking. An example of this would be repainting the walls to be more neutral and less personal.
While the color may have worked for you, it may deter potential buyers from considering your property when browsing the market. Ensuring all of these tasks are complete can be time-consuming and tedious, but it’s necessary for you to get what your house is worth.
Getting your house ready to sell can be a racing effort not only physically, but mentally as well. After all, you used to live in this place; it was your comfort spot, a safe space to block out the rest of the world and just unwind, but now it’s time to close this chapter and move on to greener pastures.