So You’ve Decided to Sell Your House. Now What Do You Do? Where Do You Start?

Vicki Moore Pacifica Realtor

Deciding to sell your house is just the beginning of to-do lists, planning, cleaning, packing, painting, fixing, staging. Unless you’re Marie Kondo, you’re probably not going to like anything to do with selling your house. Try to think of how great it’ll be when you’ve sold the house, bought the new one, moved in, and are living happily ever after.

Back to reality. If you’re wondering where to start, I’ve got some suggestions for you. For me, the best way to get through a big project is with lists. The best part of making lists is checking things off the list! The faster, the better.

In order to come up with a plan and a timeline, contact your favorite realtor to help get you on the right track. She can tell you the tasks that must absolutely be done and the ones that are optional; help you with budgeting and timing the projects; and refer you to the professionals you’ll need like contractors, painters, and handymen.

Get on the contractor’s calendar as quickly as possible.

if you’ll need the help of a professional painter, contractor, or landscaper, call right away to get on their calendar. Depending on the time of year, they may be booked out for weeks or months which could really delay the sale of your property. Get on the calendar Determining what needs to be done is a task in itself. Before you start any major projects that involve spending money, have a conversation with your realtor first. Preparing your home for sale is totally different than remodeling to stay longterm. Colors, styles, textures – buyers’ tastes change. Choosing the wrong colors or finishes could cost you greatly in the sale. You may really want to update the bathroom; however, your realtor may think the money would be spent more wisely on another project. Let your agent help you come up with a list of to-dos and a timeline that fits with when you want to move. There are only a few things that absolutely must be done to legally sell your house. Know what they are before you get out your credit card.

Start with the projects that will take the longest: Packing, Clearing Out

If you’ve lived in your house for twenty-five years, raised your kids there, and have hobbies, you’ve collected a lot of stuff. There’s no way around it. The more often you move, typically the fewer things you’re going to have. You pretty much force yourself to reduce the load so you don’t have to move so much stuff. It sort of pushes you into getting rid of the things you don’t use just so you don’t have to move them.