1. Decide on which realty company you want to hire by researching and asking friends.
  2. It is difficult and may be costly to try and sell your home yourself. Find out who is knowledgeable about your specific market, interview and decide who you are comfortable with.
  3. Look at your homes exterior for curb appeal and see if it will make a good first impression on potential buyers. If not, you can make subtle enhancements to the exterior that will not cost a great deal.
  4. Declutter and clean all areas so that your home sparkles. Too much furniture and accent pieces may make your home look cramped.
  5. Remove personalized items. No matter how difficult this is, personal items and photos can be distracting to potential buyers.
  6. Repaint interior to neutral shades. If you have bold paint on walls, it can turn off potential buyers and it can be distracting. Potential buyers want to look at your home and be able to visualize their belongings in the living space. This can be hard to do with strong colors and personalized items everywhere;
  7. If you don’t need to repaint the interior than you should touch-up areas that show wear and tear and scuff marks, like molding, baseboards, and the front door.
  8. Check handles and drains. Loose handles and slow drains should be fixed. It shows potential buyers than you have taken good care of your home including the little things that people sometimes neglect. It might also be a good idea to consider having a home inspection to avoid any unnecessary problems down the road.
  9. Add some green plants. When staging your home, plants always are a welcoming addition, but not too many.
  10. Check for odors. Conduct a smell test and see if your home has some foul odors lingering around that you are immune to especially if you have a pet or are a smoker. Try to remove the smell
  11. with deep cleaning instead of masking it with plug in deodorizers.
  12. Clean and then clean!! Make sure your home is kept picture perfect at all times and keep cleaning. You want your home to appear spotless.
  13. Remove valuables. Don’t keep valuable jewelry or heirlooms or artwork in the home unless they are stored in a safe. Things can disappear during an open house.
  14. Stage your home. Your realtor should be able to make suggestions to help stage your home so it is enticing to potential buyers. Sometimes a new piece of furniture or accent piece can add excitement to your home. Look at your living space with the eye of a potential buyer and see what areas can be improved.