Home Sellers Guide

Selling your home is a big task that takes planning, preparation, and knowledge. It is likely that you want or need to sell your house by a certain time, and it is also likely that you want the best price. While selling your home may not be as stressful as buying, it comes with its own challenges. The planning period looks different than the planning period involved in buying a home, and you will have to prepare in different ways. The biggest challenge that comes with selling your home is often that you are also buying a new home at the same time.

At Iron Gate Real Estate in Columbia, we can help you with all of your home selling and buying needs! This home sellers guide will help walk you through the process and give you tips for making it as stress free as possible. If you need help selling your home in the Columbia area, be sure to contact our experts. Our team of real estate agents can provide you with the assistance you need! We have the knowledge, experience, and skills to sell your home quickly and for the best price. Get in touch with us to learn more!

Steps Our Guide Will Cover to Help Sell Your Home:

• Home Improvements and Repair Projects
• Pricing Your Home
• Preparing and Going on Market
• Staging and Showings
• Negotiating and Closing the Deal

Home Improvements and Repair Projects

While you don’t want to throw a bunch of money into a home that you will be selling in the near future, making necessary repairs and small improvements can help you sell your home for more. The more you fix, the higher your selling price will be. So while you don’t need to completely remodel your home, making small changes can help you in the long run.

Walk around your home as if you are seeing it for the first time. Look at areas that need some attention and can be easy projects to complete. Whether it's a cabinet with loose screws, a wall that needs a fresh coat of paint, or a yard that needs some TLC, these are easy projects that can help you boost the appearance of your home and help you get a better price.

There are other projects that may need a professional’s help that are also beneficial to have taken care of before you put your home on the market. Things such as plumbing issues, problems with the HVAC, a faulty water heater, roofing problems, and others can be deal breakers. If you don’t want to take care of the larger issues, you should definitely be prepared to lower your asking price by the amount it would cost to cover all of these more significant projects.

Once you have gone through your entire home and either dealt with or made note of any issues that you may notice, you can prepare to put your home on the market!

Preparing And Going on Market

Preparing your home for the market is different than making necessary repairs and improvements. Preparing your home includes deep cleaning, staging, and making your home a place new families can picture themselves in. You will want to get professional photos taken of your home and have your real estate agent add it to the listing website. Many people start their home search online, so be sure to get your house listed online, as well as sticking a “For Sale” sign out front. Online, you should have photos of your home, details of the property, information about the neighborhood, virtual tours, and your agent’s contact information.

In addition to getting your home posted online, you will also want to make sure that anyone driving by can easily see that your home is on the market. Put a sign in your yard with flyers that include high-quality photos and information about your home. You can also post your home on social media platforms to help get more exposure on your property. Once your home is on the market, potential buyers will likely be scheduling showings, which is another thing you need to stay prepared for.

Staging and Showings

When it comes to staging your home, there are a few great tips to follow. The goal is to make your home as appealing as possible to the widest variety of people. Following these staging tips to help your home attract more potential buyers:

• Pack away clutter, unique decorations that fit your personal style, and personal items like family photos.
• Make sure you deep clean your home. People will be looking in drawers, closets, bathrooms, and storage areas, so make sure they are clean and organized.
• Boost curb appeal by keeping your entrance clean and tidy — this is the first thing potential buyers will see.
• Rearrange furniture to create welcoming and cozy environments. Pulling your furniture away from the walls can make a room appear bigger.
• Go for a balance of clean and decluttered, while also looking lived in and cozy.
• Make sure your home smells good! Light a candle, add some fresh cut flowers, or bake some cookies before a showing.

Showing your home can be inconvenient. People will likely want to see your home on the weekends and if they are serious buyers, they may spend a hour or more exploring your home and talking to the real estate agent. While this can make it hard to just go about your daily life, showings are essential when it comes to selling your home.

Negotiating and Closing the Deal

Home buyers want to get the best deal for a home just as much as you want the best price for yours. This is why negotiating is key. Potential buyers will likely make an offer lower than your asking price, and you will need to make a counter offer to get closer to your asking price. This is often why it is a good idea to ask for more initially. Your real estate agent can help you negotiate a deal until both parties are satisfied with the price agreed upon.

Once the counter offers have come to a meeting point, it is time to close the deal! There is a lot that goes into this process and our real estate agents can walk you through the entire thing and help to ensure nothing goes wrong and the deal doesn’t fall through. And if all goes as planned, you can celebrate the fact that you sold your home! Now, all that needs to be done is the moving out process.

Sell Your Home With Our Experts

If you are getting ready to sell your home, you will want a team of experts on your side! Be sure to contact Iron Gate Real Estate in Columbia today to get started. We will walk you through the process and make it as stress-free as possible!