Ready to sell your house now? This guide covers all the things you need to do and know before listing, including setting a reasonable price, insurance you might need, getting your house ready for showings and buyers, getting a real estate agent. Read on to find out how to get your house ready to sell in 30 days.
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Research the market
The first thing that you should do if you are looking to sell is research the current market. There is definitely a time to sell and a time to stay put. You want to try to sell when prices are at the top of an upward curve. Too soon and you won't get as much for your house as you could have and too late and the prices may have fallen again. It is a delicate balance!
Research sold house prices in your area, and in your street specifically, as well as other houses currently on the market. What does your home have that they don't and what could you do better to bring your property above theirs in level. You want people to choose your property over a similar one that might be on the market.
As part of your research, spend time deciding whether to sell or rent your home - compare achievable sale price with likely monthly rent, demand in your area, and the responsibilities and costs of becoming a landlord.
Find an estate agent
Choosing an estate agent is an important step. You want one that has a proven history of selling similar houses in your area. Get recommendations from your friends and invite a few estate agents to come and look at your property to value it and give you selling tips. It is important to get on well with your estate agent as you will be communicating with them a lot over the next month or two. You also need to consider how much they charge as commission.
Get your finances and insurances in order
Again, this is a very important step, especially if you want to move quickly with your sale. If you are buying another property you will want to have your decision in principle ready from your mortgage lender, or if you are a cash buyer, have your funds in an account where they are available to you. You will also want to have started on your property search for your new home, or have looked at rental properties for the meantime. If you are in a chain or have delays finding somewhere to move into this will also slow down your sale.
You will also want to make sure that you have all the insurances that you need set up. You should already have home and contents insurance and it is important to keep that running until the property sale is complete.
Considering the sometimes volatile nature of the property market and cut-throat buying and selling techniques it is well worth having insurance in place to protect you against losing out on money during the process of your sale. Sometimes a buyer will suddenly reduce their purchase offer at the last minute, forcing a seller to take a lower price or risk losing the sale, and potentially the purchase of a new property. This is called gazundering and is a harsh tactic, that we as sellers have personally experienced and it can be very stressful. What we didn't know was that you can get insurance that can cover you in case of this eventuality. With this cover you can claim back conveyancing fees up to the amount the policy specifies should you get gazundered.
De-clutter, clean and tidy
Once everything is in order, and your house is ready to put on the market you will want to make it presentable so that it is appealing to buyers. Make sure any half finished decorating or DIY jobs are completed and that you have de-cluttered, cleaned and tidied so that your home feels spacious and clean. Have a nicely smelling candle burning and clear out of the house, along with any noisy pets that might put buyers off whilst the estate agent takes them around. A top tip if you live on a street with on-street parking is to move your car from outside so that it creates more space and your buyer won't worry about parking issues.
Hold an open house
If you want to sell your home within 30 days you will want to get offers on the table and accepted as soon as possible. Consider arranging with your agents to have an open house. This is a great way to get lots of viewings over and done with at once and often will get buyers concerned that if they don't put in a quick offer someone else might beat them too it. If it goes well you could have several offers to choose from by the end of the day!
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