July 30, 2021
I was listening to a podcast recently about ‘5 tips to help your blog be successful,’ or something like that. One of the points was don’t use too many words. Well, I’m ditching that advice for this post. There’s just too much to share and I don’t want to leave out any details here. But I’m going to go ahead and assume that if you’re looking into selling your home without a realtor, then you can make it through this entire blog post.
Before I start the post, I have a few disclaimers.
[This would be the part in a medication commercial that’s read super fast so you can’t really understand what she’s saying.]
I AM NOT A REALTOR. My only credentials are that I have sold two homes by owner. I have nothing against realtors. I think realtors can be super helpful in some situations, I just don’t think they are necessary in EVERY situation.
Every state is a little bit different. The homes I sold were in Alaska and Virginia. What I share here are the basics, but make sure to look up real estate buying/selling requirements for your specific state.
Here we go!
Here’s what I did to prepare before officially listing our house.
Stage your home:
You know the saying, “a place for everything and everything in its place?” This is your new life motto when staging your home. Write it on your mirror. Tattoo it on your head. Whatever you need to do to make it sink in. Every potential buyer should be able to picture their things in your home. You want them to be imaging where they will put their worn-in leather loveseat and where they will hang their favorite family photo from their trip to Hawaii. The more clutter they see, the harder it makes it for them to daydream. So get your stuff out of their way! When you’re trying to figure out how to stage your space and your things, ask yourself these questions.
Is this space easy to walk through?
-Remove pieces or rearrange furniture that could cause the space to feel tight or could be a tripping hazard to someone who’s feet aren’t as familiar with your home as yours are. The room should flow. Once you think you’ve landed on a staging layout, walk through the space in every possible way, just to double check.
Where are my eyes drawn to/Is there anything distracting in this space?
-Is the first thing you notice in your living room that giant hot pink cheetah painting on the wall? It might be time for you to either take it to the thrift store or find a hiding spot for it for the foreseeable future (read: forever).
What do I want the focus to be?
-Think about your favorite aspects of your house. The floors? The fireplace? The natural light? Find ways to highlight these things. In our most recent house, our living room had a unique layout. But, no matter how we arranged our furniture, the eye was always drawn to the fireplace. So, of course, I painted it black (Sherwin Williams’s Iron Ore to be exact). And when we staged our house, I took down all of our personal frames/photos that were on the mantel. Simple. Clean. And it left room for the potential buyers to imagine what they would put on the mantel.
How can I best use my storage spaces?
-You shouldn’t need to buy many things (if any) to stage your house. The whole point of selling your house yourself is to save money. BUT if you’re going to need to buy anything, it’ll probably be some storage solutions. So head to Target and buy some baskets. It’s okay to shove things into closets for pictures-sake. But when you actually start showing your home, that’s not going to cut it. When a potential buyer opens up a closet and is smacked in the face with falling toys, not only is it probably going to give them a black eye, but it tells them this home doesn’t have enough storage. “A place for everything and everything in its place.” So rent a little storage unit if you have to. Or bribe a friend with a margarita to store a few boxes of things at her house. But make sure those closets and other storage spaces are organized!
Trust me, it matters.
Moving on.
Clean
After you’ve staged your home and unearthed a million dust mites and bunnies, now’s the time to clean your house. Add magic erasers to your shopping list (I actually like the off-brand ones better than Mr. Clean – sorry, Mr. Clean) and get to work. I’m talking windows, baseboards, spot treat carpets, clean cabinets (inside and out). The works. Hire someone to do this if you want, but it’ll take you a weekend – tops. Unless you live in a mansion, then I have no clue how long it will take you. But regardless of your square-footage, I believe that you can do this yourself.
Photos
Once your house is cleaner than it’s been in its entire life, now’s the time for photos. If you’re trying to pinch every penny, rent a camera with a wide-angle lens and take the pictures yourself. Now, I think this is THE most important part of FSBO, so I definitely wouldn’t judge you for hiring a photographer. If you do that, they’ll know what to do and you can stop reading here. But, if you take the photos yourself, take them during the day, and make sure EVERY single light is on in your house and open every single blind. Every one. It may seem excessive, but it’ll make a huge difference in how your photos turn out. You can’t take too many pictures. The more the better.
List it!
Post those pictures on Zillow (and/or any other real estate platform). If you’re house has been on Zillow before, more than likely, it was sold by a realtor. They are usually pretty good at writing listing descriptions. So, I like to use the one that was on the listing from when I bought the home and then just tweak it a bit. If it caught my eye before, it’s probably an okay listing description. When I’m tweaking it, I’m adding any improvements we’ve done the house, talking up my favorite parts, etc.
If you’ve read this far and still aren’t too intimidated, here’s a checklist to help you get started.
Stay tuned; Part II (and maybe even a Part III) coming soon.
Please don’t hesitate to reach out in the comments with any specific questions!
Thanks for being here,
Regan
Ps. Please, if you’re a realtor, don’t egg my house.
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