Want to sell your home FASTER than the average home on the market?  Here is my three-step formula to prepare your home for a fast sale:

Declutter – The way we live in our homes is very different than the way we stage them for sale.  Get rid of anything that’s not absolutely essential for life prior to your move. Either put it in storage or throw it away, but the goal is to make your home look “barely lived-in” so the Buyers can imagine moving their things in.  Put essentials (dish soap, sponges, etc) in a basket that can be stored under your sink during showings for that spacious clean counter look.

Pre-inspect – Hire a home inspector to do an inspection prior to listing your home for sale.  This will help prevent nasty surprises later on and will give you a chance to correct any major problems before buyers do their own inspections.

Make repairs – Seriously, make all repairs needed, even minor ones.  Use the home inspection you got as your punch list. A home in excellent shape sells faster and for more money than a home that needs work, even if the work is minor and you offer an allowance to cover it.  Most buyers estimate repairs to cost about 3 times their actual cost and want to offer that much less for the home. So make the investment in repairing all the little things so that buyers will be competing to make offers for your home rather than trying to negotiate the price down.

This is your part.  Your agent’s role is to take over from here and do quality marketing with specific targeting of the buyers who are right for your home.  Want to learn more about that? Click here to learn about how your agent should market your home.