HOME SELLERS GUIDE

Dallas has continuously been one of the hottest Real Estate Markets in Texas, and across the nation!  That means there are a lot of homes being listed to sell every day across the DFW Metroplex.  As a Top Dallas Real Estate Agent, I specialize in being a Sellers Representative Specialist!   

In order to get my clients, the most money for their home there are some steps to follow.  From cleaning and staging to repainting and depersonalizing to put your home in the best light possible.  To help I have put together a list of 11 things to do before you decide to sell your home!  These steps will get it sold fast! 

1. Get Your Home Ready To Sell By Researching The Local Housing Market 

When hiring a Dallas REALTOR® one of the most important things to do is making sure to get an accurate value of your home.  This starts with running comps of sold homes in your neighborhood.  Sites like Zillow.com offer Zestimate's, but this is not the same as a CMA.  Zestimate's use an algorithm to find home values by pulling public data from their site which is not as focused as MLS data.  Only a Licensed Dallas REALTOR® can help research, and pull 100% accurate data that has been entered into the MLS.  For example, closing price and paid closing costs.  Which impacts the listing price of a home.   

2. Get Your Home Ready To Sell By Hiring A Top Listing Agent 

Dallas has over 30,000 REALTORS® working across the Metro.  Every year that number grows larger, but many do not make it past their first year in the industry.  It is not an easy career to run your own business.   So, as a homeowner you want to make sure whomever you are hiring is a listing machine!  Like myself.  This includes getting recommendations from friends who have sold their home in your neighborhood, and looking up reviews online.  Not every Dallas Realtor has what it takes to list a home properly.  You not only need marketing dollars, but you also need a real estate brokerage like Compass with high quality marketing collateral and cutting-edge tools.  Finding a Dallas Real Estate Agent who has a stellar track record for selling their listings, and not letting them expire should be at the top of your list when hiring a Top Listing Agent. 

3. Get Your Home Ready To Sell By Buying More Light Bulbs 

This may seem like a silly thing to do, but you want your home to shine when selling it.  Quite literally.  This means stocking up on light bulbs.  You want to make sure your home is well lit when it is being shown to potential homebuyers.  All light fixtures and lamps will need to be turned on before every showing.  It is important that all lights in your home have working light bulbs, and you have plenty of extras laying around if one burns out.  Something as little as a light not working can make a buyer feel as if there is something wrong with the home. 

4. Get Your Home Ready To Sell By Deep Cleaning It 

You have only one chance to make a first impression when a home buyer walks through your door.  Foul odors, dirty floors, stained carpets, crusty bathroom mirrors or dusty surfaces will turn off buyers.  When preparing your home to sell (and throughout the selling process), give your home a deep clean.  This includes pressure washing the driveway, cleaning toilets, wiping down all hard surfaces and mirrors, mopping floors, cleaning rugs, and scrubbing bathrooms.  Many of these items are easy to do on your own, but hiring someone to do them can be as little as a couple hundred dollars.  Also, adding air fresheners throughout the house will add a clean smell to the home.  

5. Get Your Home Ready To Sell By Decluttering 

Throughout the years you’ve probably racked up a lot of “stuff”.  Decluttering every room in the home, and organizing shelves will go a long way in opening up the space.  This also will signal to buyers that you care about the home.  When a home is clutter-free, buyers are able to focus on the actual home instead of looking at all the junk you accumulated.  Having a garage sale is a great way to get rid of a lot of items while making some extra money too.  Most items can be put in boxes in the garage or attic if you don’t want to purge yourself of them. 

6. Get Your Home Ready To Sell By Calling A Handyman 

When selling your home, you should have all those “honey-do-list” items taken care of by a handyman.  This means fixing the leaky faucet, replacing the door knob that sticks, getting the broken window glass replaced, putting in a new mailbox post that isn’t wood rotted, greasing squeaky door hinges, patching the hole in the wall, and any other items in the home that you have been putting off.  Now is the time to tend to these once and for all.  Otherwise, buyers may think your home hasn’t been well taken care of, which can be a turn-off for many.  Don’t think buyers won’t notice these things when touring the home.  They will! 

7. Get Your Home Ready To Sell By Painting The Walls 

Ever thought about wanting to re-paint your home?  Well, now is the time.  You don’t have to paint the entire home, but you really need to start by painting over any bright colored walls with neutral colors.  Stick to whites, light grays, and light beiges colors.  Shades like these will make your home appear bigger, and brighter.  Also, touch up any scratches on the walls or molding that has been worn.  Fresh paint will make the home look more welcoming.  A great tip is painting the front door too.  This really makes an impact.  If the outside of your home looks run down then you might want to consider painting it. 

8. Get Your Home Ready To Sell By Staging It 

A staged home sells faster and for more money.  Multiple studies have shown that a staged home sells 87% faster than an upstaged one.  Fortunately, staging your home’s interior is easy and affordable.  At Compass we work with many reputable stagers that can help with this, but we also have a program, RealVitalize, that pays for the home staging without any upfront cost to you.  But what if you don’t want staging?...your REALTOR® should make a list of recommendations for any furniture that should be removed or rearranged.  You also shouldn’t forget to spruce up your home’s curb appeal.  This is as easy as making sure that the grass is cut, adding mulch to the garden beds, racking the leaves, freshening up the flowers in the garden beds, adding potted plants, and cutting any unruly tree branches.  Adding patio furniture will help too.  The furniture, and landscaping are all a part of making the home looked staged. 

9. Get Your Home Ready To Sell By Hiring A Professional Photographer 

Photos speak a thousand words.  Having your home professionally photographed is one of the last things to have done before it hits the MLS, but it is one of the most important things to do in order for buyers to want to come see the home.  It needs to look picture perfect online, and in the MLS with high quality photos.  This won’t be an expense to you.  Your REALTOR® will take care of that as a part of their marketing expense.  However, you need to make sure they use only the best of the best.  I use a few different photographers, but I always like to oversee the process to make sure they get the best features of the home.  I also do additionally editing to the photos to make sure all the colors pop. 

10. Get Your Home Ready To Sell By Renting A Storage Unit 

This step is not one that I have many home sellers do, but there is the occasional one who has so much stuff in the home that they need to put it somewhere.  Some owners don’t have enough space in their garage or attic to put all the unnecessary furniture or knick knaks.  Renting a storage unit can be as little as $75 a month.  It will be well worth it to fill up a storage unit, and have your house opened up.   

11. Get Your Home Ready To Sell By Depersonalizing 

Selling a home is all about striking the perfect balance between depersonalization and creating a warm, welcoming atmosphere.  If you can’t vacate your home while selling it then you need to do your best to make the home feel vacant.  The best home sellers are the ones where buyers ask if someone is still living in the home while they are touring it.  This means that the seller has done all the proper steps to make the home feel staged, and unlived in.  Without a lot of personal belongings on display.  This means putting away framed photos of your family, bulletin boards, calendars, art projects on the fridge, and other personal items (think: photo albums, magazines, toys, workout equipment, holiday decorations, awards, etc.) throughout the home. You can still leave a few nice, framed photos around the house to make the home appear inviting and lived in, but you want the potential buyer to imagine themselves living in the home.  Having your wedding photos above the fireplace mantel could make it hard for the newlyweds wanting to buy your home picturing their wedding photos there. 

VOTED BEST REAL ESTATE AGENT IN DALLAS & TOP TEN DALLAS REALTOR®