25 effective Tips for Selling House without Losing Your Mind- It worked for us ! 🙂
We have sold our home recently and moved out to the new house following week. It was indeed very stressful for us. Our family home for 7 years “sold”, we felt a bit vulnerable.. we did cry a bit after the reality hit us that Our beloved house is SOLD!
Read More: Selling your house Stress and How to deal with it
Selling a property isn’t easy—even when the market is at its best, the process can be stressful, time-consuming, and expensive (the cost of selling a house is shockingly high).
The sale of your home is a hectic and tedious procedure… especially if you have little kids that make messes regularly. The last demonstrations, the stress of preserving an almost pristine house, the ups and downs of considering an offer and the savagery of negotiations are approaching.
However, I learnt a lot along the process. I was trying to see several things for my working family that functioned finest. I identified time-saving methods.
I just learnt to live. In tasks I had previously put down, I became more diligent and regular in my approach. But you don’t want to allow this House grow out of control when you receive a house showing/House Viewing with short notice.
We’ve been in house sale mode for just a few years ago as we always wanted to upgrade our house. We first started For Sale By an Agent But could not do it that year as the market went down( too down for our Liking lol) (in the 2019) .We withdrew our listing from the market. However, we sold our property to an Investor in June 2021.
The list below is our effort to help you keep healthy and sane throughout the house selling Journey. 25 tips for selling your house Without losing your mind.
Yeah, because sometimes you feel like you are stretching the boundaries. But do what you can, learn what works and keep going for your family.
Let's Get This Party Started:
1. Establish and Stick to a Cleaning Routine:
If you haven’t been keeping up with your house, there’s nothing worse than getting a call for a showing with only a couple hours to prepare.
I still remember getting a call from my agent for a showing in an hour and a half one Friday night (you’d think I’d be safe on a Friday night, right?).
We said goodbye to our pals and dashed home to tidy. All four of us, including my our children, cleaned like crazy.
I was genuinely amazed with how nicely my kids cleaned. It was excellent for bonding , but not so much fun when we had to hurry.
2. Keep Laundry Baskets in strategic locations throughout the house to gather stuff.
Find out ( or you must already know)What are your mess-making hotspots? I maintained laundry baskets in my office and family room so that if a showing came up, I could quickly gather my junk in the laundry basket and take it with me.
I used these Cool Laundry Baskets to collect all the extra stuff and they look cool and stay in the corners of our house.
3. Stage Your House for Inspections
Yes, you should stage your home. I had an interior designer friend tour through my house and offer me advice on what I should do to make it more appealing.
It was really beneficial.
We used More Pillows, some decorative Items, lamps, vases and new Fluffy Carpets to stage our house for sale.
List of things we Purchased from Amazon that worked well for us
1. Vase set
2.Fluffy Carpets-Rectangle
5. Trendy Couch Throw Blankets
4.Keep the car in your garage & Use it as a Storage
Well, What happened to those washing baskets with all the stuff ? Yes, right there in the vehicle. Our Mercedes SUV & our BMW Mini became the safe haven for everything I needed to get out of the house for the showing.
We Purchased the car Boot Storage from Amazon -You can Purchase them here
Also, Keep a good supply of wipes on hand in your bathroom. If you wipe off your counters often, you can avoid a full cleaning before a showing.
5. Purchase a New Set of Bathroom Towels.
Who wants to see your soiled towels when they come to check out your bathrooms? I spent very little money on a set of towels for both upstairs bathrooms, which were only used for showings.
They looked far superior to the towels we used on a daily basis. And I didn’t have to worry about the state of my regular towels for a show.
I also purchased new pillows for the couch that were both attractive in colour and quality.
I stored them in a corner of the family room and only used them for showings. Don’t be concerned if your pillows are in decent condition. Mine had seen a lot of wear from the kids and were in desperate need of an upgrade.
We purchased set of Trendy Bathroom Towels from Amazon and this was Indeed handy – You can Purchase them here
6. Keep your bathroom toiletries in a container.
For all of my bathroom counter toiletries, I utilised a transparent shoebox-sized container.
This makes it quite simple to grab the full container and store it in your closet or cabinet. Counters that are clean and clear look the finest.
7. Make sure you hire a professional Cleaning service to Pre-sale clean your house( Just Once in the beginning of the sale Journey will do)
First impressions are crucial, and this is especially true when selling a house! Buyers are choosy, and their high expectations necessitate the finest.
A gleaming property is a sought-after property, so scrimping on your pre-sale clean is not just bad math, but also hazardous business.
Cleaning the walls, windows , Wall Skirtings , under switch cleaning is very important You just to need it once before the selling journey begins. We we decided to sell our family home , we just hired a Professional cleaner to pr-sale clean our house . Voila, Our house looked sparkling clean ready to be Photographed and Viewed.
Pre-sale Cleaning usually Includes the following:
- Dusting internally from floors to ceiling
- Removing all cobwebs
- Removing Mould from bathrooms, walls and balconies
- Tiles and grout cleaning
- Blinds cleaning: Roller blinds and Venetians
- Cleaning all skirts, fixtures, lights and switches
- Spot cleaning all walls
- Wiping all the furniture to make it shine as much as possible
- Window cleaning inside and outside (where possible and reachable)
- Cleaning window seals and rails
- Deep cleaning of kitchen: oven, range hood, microwave, sink, tiles, stove, cupboards (inside and outside), drawers, floor, dishwasher, toaster, handles, walls, windows, blinds etc.
8. Keep Your Linen Closet Fresh.
If you have that smell on bedding that has been in your closet for a while, consider putting a new dryer sheet in between the sheets for a pleasant and fresh smell when prospective buyers check in your linen close
9. Reduce your Clutter drastically.. .
Yes I mean it.. Nobody wants to witness your mess. I went through each room and boxed up items before listing our property for sale.
My aim was to have a clean, nice, and well-organized home. It also made cleaning the house simpler because there was fewer junk. I came to enjoy the uncomplicated appearance.
Organize your closets and cabinets. Don’t leave your closets and cupboards in a state of disarray. People will go over them. Do it before you list the house and try to keep it organised.
Plus, Bring a list of updates you’ve completed. Think it out and have a list ready, whether it’s for your agent, an inspector, or purchasers making an offer.
10. Replace items once they have been used.
Another wonderful habit to develop and instil in your children. This small amount of work after utilising anything may make a significant impact when you receive a call for a showing.
Eliminate the use of a room.
Can you avoid utilising a room, such as the dining room or an extra bathroom, if you live in an area where properties sell quickly?
This wasn’t really an option for me throughout the course of time, but if I had showings within a day of each other, you can guarantee I kept the kids out of the basement.
11. Limit children’s toys, especially those with a lot of pieces.
Make things easier by packing up some of the kids’ toys for a few weeks and then swapping them around. Put away any games or toys that have a lot of components. Consider the obvious!
12. Don’t worry if your house isn’t picture-perfect.
This was difficult for us since I wanted our ouse to be in good condition. My Real Estate Agent, on the other hand, provided me some sound advise. he advised me that it was preferable for a prospect to visit the house even if it had flaws than for me to turn them away and lose a good possible buyer.
13. Do Not Become Emotional.
When it comes to selling your home, it is all too simple to become emotional. Lowball bids are taken personally. Negotiations may be agonising.
Try to conceive about selling your property as a business as much as humanly feasible. You have a product to sell. You want to receive the highest potential return, but you also want to make a sale, which may need providing more than you expected in exchange.
Manny and I both found it useful to put ourselves in the shoes of the purchasers. What would we have done if we had been in their shoes? It caused us to be more impartial and not outraged during the process, even though we would have done the same thing otherwise.
14. Conduct Your Own Comparisons.
Check out Realestate.com.au( Australia), Zillow(USA), Trulia, or your county’s website to discover what has recently sold in your neighbourhood. When establishing your listing price, compare price per square foot, distinct features, and condition. Try to be sensible (and be realistic).
15. Make certain you enjoy meeting new people.
If you are not a people person, welcoming strangers into your home will be one of the most awkward circumstances. I would not recommend For Sale By Owner to someone who is not comfortable meeting and connecting with new individuals on a daily basis.
Set Ground Rules for House Showings. Will you be the one to display the house? Will your children be present for the screenings? All of this should be discussed prior to your first showing.
16. Take Excellent Photographs.
Clutter-free each area and wait for excellent light to photograph your home. Because I wanted the greatest light possible, I photographed the front of my house in the morning and the back of my house in the late afternoon.
You may disagree, but I like photographs where the curtains are open and the space is filled with natural light.
17. If you’re playing music throughout a performance, keep it soft and neutral. Choose something instrumental and low-key, rather than a kind of music that may irritate your potential consumers.
18. Turn On Your Own Lights. You want your home to appear its best, and you know which lighting in your home make the rooms seem their finest. Even with showings at midday, I switched on the bulk of our lights and lamps.
We purchased some cool Floor lamps from Amazon, that made our house look Bright and Nice for Photographs. You can Purchase Lamps from here.
19. List Your Home in Several Locations.
Share on Facebook, utilise Craigslist (if you’re comfortable with it), and build a website. I am a Blogger + web designer , so I developed a landing page that I could utilise on all of my print flyers and social media.
Request that your friends share it on their social networks as well.
When Using A Real Estate Agent –
20. Work with an agent you like and trust, and who will work hard with and for you. We were fortunate to have a fantastic agency with whom we had previously worked. She began as an agent but quickly became a friend. Her counsel was priceless.
21. Negotiate with the Commission. It is OK to haggle about the commission with your agent and their agency. Even a tenth of a percent makes a difference. Ask around to see what your friends have discovered to be usual in your region.
My Personal Favourite thing to do –
22. Make a video tour of your memories.
I’m an emotional person. And, as thrilled as I was to be under contract on the house, I couldn’t help but feel sorry that we were moving on.
That was the beautiful house where I brought up my children. It was the first home Manny and I Built.
Those walls were loaded with beautiful memories of seeing my children grow, parties, entertaining on the terrace, feeding the fish, and a plethora of other benefits.
23.Enable access and ensure that your house is ready to be Viewed by the potential Buyers
When you decide to sell, it will eventually imply that individuals will go home. You should like the greatest possible approach to display your home.Create a system that facilitates home display. Liaise your agent!
If you have little children and pets and you do not want to disturb your bedtime, make sure that this is obvious or that certain days/times work better for you.
It would simply add more concern or stress to the already challenging position if you have to get clean every day.
24. Unravel and make sure that the property not just looks neat and clean, but also that it’s shown like a home.
Lack of character may make a property look un-lifted so that it is staged and placed in the purchaser shoes properly. Think about What would you look for when you are buying a house and What is that you are going to put you away?
For me its clean space around the switches , doors and walls. I like to keep those areas very clean in my house. If at all I happen to see Unclean walls I seem to get upset.
25 Eat Out
All happens at the end of the process; the sale takes place, the money passes, you deliver the keys and it is time to break the champagne.
You recall buying a champagne bottle, did you not?
Just before we started packing to move to a new Home, I went through the house with my video recorder, capturing as many memories as I could while everything was still in order. I began by photographing the house and yard from the outside.
Then I went to the front door and rang the doorbell, which was answered by my children, who then proceeded to give me a tour of the entire residence. Saving the thoughts from their point of view will be quite valuable to them in the future.
Sure, I’ll certainly weep, but they’ll be happy tears, tears of gratitude for all the memories the Lord gave us while we lived in that house.
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