Your home is likely the most valuable asset you will ever sell. If you have given it great love and care over the years, you should expect to sell it for a great price. But for this, you should hire a savvy realtor, especially if you have never sold a home before. While some people can figure out how to sell their homes as “for sale by owner” listings, there’s a lot of details that could be missed by doing so. You don’t want to put all that work into selling your home only to find out you could have sold it for even more had there been a professional there to guide you. If you ask the right questions, you can find a great realtor.
Initial Phase of Interviewing the Realtor
When you are vetting real estate agents, the usual questions that come up first are usually about their experience, how many homes they successfully sell in a year, and their commission price. All of those questions are certainly important, especially the agent’s experience since a more experienced agent is generally more reliable throughout the process. But you want to get beyond that and find out what kind of plan they have for selling your home. The details of that should include how and why they would price your home the way they would. They should also be experts on the interior and exterior prep work that needs to be done prior to the sale.
Ideas For Upgrading Your Home’s Interior
A good realtor will be able to walk through your home and spot areas that could improve the final sale price. You want to make just enough improvements to it that prospective buyers find it attractive, but not too much that you waste time and money knowing that the new owners may plan to make their own changes.
Some basic changes could be doing a paint job. You might not need to do a complete remake, but you will want to make sure any imperfections on your walls or ceilings are covered up. You may want to consider putting new doors in certain rooms, including an interior sliding barn door which can add a fancy little touch to your interior.
Your realtor may also recommend rearranging some items such as furniture or belongings you keep in your closets, basement, or garage. That’s because prospective buyers are likely to pay more for a home-based on how much space it has and how it can be maximized.
Suggestions for Your Home’s Exterior
Just like the interior, you probably don’t want to do a complete landscaping or paint job overhaul, but you do want to make sure your curb appeal is alluring enough for people driving by. That could include cleaning up your walkways and using a weed killer to make them match your lawn in neatness.
Having flower gardens planted in your yard can also improve the overall value of your home. Other items, like sprinklers, that can be turned on and off with a switch, lighting for your driveway, and doing paint touch-ups on your siding, front door, or wooden porch can add a lot to the overall landscape. Even just taking the time to clear out old trees, fallen limbs, and doing basic lawn mowing and trimming will make your home feel more welcoming to prospective buyers.
Other Things to Know About Your Realtor
While you want a realtor who is sure of what they’re doing, you also want one who will ask questions about how much you hope to get out of your home sale and the kind of buyer you are looking for. They should also present a written plan on how they will market your home and explain whether you are trying to sell in a buyer or seller’s market.
Their communication and personal skills are what should stand out because once you put your home on the market, you will be going through different talks and negotiations with your realtor, your prospective buyers, and their realtor. You just need to carefully review the contract you sign with your realtor and make sure you know what you can do to opt-out in case that needs to be done.
