Selling Your Home This Spring? Follow This Checklist

Photo credit: iStock/Feverpitched

If you’re looking to sell your home this spring, you’re not alone. The number of houses sold tends to peak in early to mid-May, making spring the most popular selling season.

So how can you make your home stand out from the competition? Consider this checklist composed by Coldwell Banker Preferred affiliated sales associates.

Start simple. 

The best time to start is today so get your home in order with easy projects and small repairs.

“Make sure all systems like your furnace are in working order,” says Kimberly Morehart of the Morehart & Wetherby Realty Group team affiliated with Coldwell Banker Preferred. “Paint areas with chipped or faded paint. Put a welcome mat outside. Make sure your doorknob and keys turn easily. Now is the time to prepare before you’re rushing to get bigger things done.” 

Declutter your home.

Minimize your personal items and knick-nacks when you’re trying to showcase your fabulous home. Get rid of anything you don’t need anymore and rent a storage space for things you don’t need right now.

“Less is more,” says Mary Beth Oates, a Coldwell Banker Preferred affiliated sales associate in Haddonfield, NJ. “Buyers need to be able to visualize how they can live there. You only have one chance to make a first impression.”

Focus on curb appeal.

Your home should be just as beautiful outside and inside. Hire a landscaper or take it upon yourself to mow the lawn, trim the trees and tend to the gardening. Plant flowers or fill window boxes and make sure the exterior paint is in tip-top shape.

Hire a stager.

What works for you might not be up to date with current interior design trends. You have to target the buyer demographic in your area.

“If you’re selling a grandmother’s house in an area with young, first-time home buyers, you won’t do well,” says Morehart. “You want to minimize tchotchkes and lose outdated furniture so the whole house looks fresh.”

Take down some (not all) family photos.  

While it’s important to depersonalize your home, you still want to give buyers the rightful appearance of what the place might look like after they move in. Photos can connect sellers and buyers.

“People can see themselves in other family photos,” says Morehart. “They see a smiling boy in a photo and compare it to their own son. Don’t have a huge wall of photos, but keep a few around the house on the nightstand or side table.”

Partner with a professional photographer.

Use an agent that’s working with a photographer so you have the best display available online.

“Ninety-two percent of buyers find homes online,” says Morehart. “Your home should draw them in from the photos so they’ll come to an open house or ask for a showing.”

Always be prepared for a showing.

Last-minute or surprise showings can always happen so make sure your home is always clean and orderly.

“Have your home showroom ready every day,” says Conshohocken Coldwell Banker Preferred affiliated sales associate Noele Stinson. “You don’t want to decline a showing because your home isn’t in order.”

Find the best price for you and the buyer.

“A well-priced home that shows well will sell in any market,” says Oates. “If the home isn’t sold in 30 days or less, listen to feedback and make adjustments. It’s the buyer that will ultimately determine the value. Not the seller or sales associate.”

For more information about buying or selling a home in the communities of the Greater Philadelphia area and the Delaware Valley, including southern New Jersey and northern Delaware, visit Coldwell Banker Preferred online at www.coldwellbankerhomes.com/philadelphia.