Just like buyers should be pre-approved before they begin to look at houses, sellers should also have their home pre-approved. The reasons are similar: appeal to the "right" buyers, discover issues with the home early, improve marketability, increase negotiations position, and close quickly.
For the seller, there are few things that need to be done before the sign goes in the yard and definitely before prospective buyers see the home. The first is to understand that once you decide to sell the home, it needs to appeal to the broadest base of buyers possible. That means depersonalizing your home.
Once the home is sold, you'll need to pack your things. Consider starting the process early. Get moving boxes and decide what you intend to give away or discard in each room and closet. Identify and pack those items before the home goes on the market. This is the first wave of making your home more marketable.
When your home hits the market, it needs to be a neutral commodity and not "your" home. A good rule of thumb is to remove items that involve religion, hunting, and sports. That also means removing personal items like family photos or collections displayed in the room.
Next, in round two, go through every room to remove the items that make too large a statement or take up too much space. Pool tables may be appropriate in a game room, but they are not in a dining room or a living room.
Personal collections may have taken you years to accumulate, and you're proud of them, but the people who come to see your home will likely be distracted by them. The livability of your home needs to be the focal point. The buyers need to visualize themselves living in the property that will become "their" home.
The four most essential rooms to address are the primary bedroom, kitchen, living room, and dining room. These rooms have a significant influence on buyers when determining whether "it is the right home." Bright colors, possibly used as accent walls, should be neutralized.
After you have depersonalized the home and removed non-essential items that may make the rooms or closets look small, you might want to consider another technique called staging. This includes rearranging furniture so the room shows to its best advantage. You might decide that a coffee table or statement piece would be nice, and your realtor or stager can suggest a place to rent it rather than buying it.
Once the home is depersonalized and staged, you're ready to have a professional photographer take the pictures that visually describe your home to potential buyers long before they ever look at the home in person. While anyone with a point and shoot camera can take pictures, you should opt for a pro with the correct wide-angle lens, who understands lighting and has an eye for what makes a great picture.
One last consideration is to have the home inspected before it goes on the market. It won't replace the buyer's inspections, but it will discover any items that need repair. Consider doing these repairs before the home goes on the market. This could save you money because it may cost less to repair them now than in the second round of negotiations when their inspector finds the issue.
Another benefit is that if their inspector identifies a problem area that your inspector did not, you have a basis for legitimate disagreement that could just be personal opinion instead of a "fact."
While the process of depersonalizing should take part before you put the home on the market, you'll want you to have the benefit of your real estate agent's experience to help you with the process. At age 18, a person can expect to move nine more times, but by age 45, they may only expect to move another 2.7 times. Your realtor's experience can be valuable not only in saving your time and money but make the difference in a successful sale.