How to Prep Your Home for Sale

a scale with a cup of coffee and a plant

Moving can be tough. While you’re packing your things and preparing to sell your home, you’re also preparing your house’s outside appearance in addition to its inside. You have to decide whether or not you will be doing any renovations. The best way to decide how much work you’re going to have to do on your home is to decide whether you want to sell your home as-is as a fixer-upper, or as a move-in-ready home. Once you’ve decided which route you’re traveling, you can start making your to-do list. Having to prepare your property for sale may feel exhausting and overwhelming, but once you’ve received an offer, you’ll soon realize that all of that preparation work was well worth it! Here are some tips on how to prep your home for sale.

Get Insured

Always ensure that your home is insured. You never know what devastation is lurking around the corner. It is better to be safe than sorry when it comes to insurance—especially with an investment as large as a home. Faulty wiring, malfunctioning home appliances, or even environmental disasters can impact your home. This is especially true if you live in a state like Florida where there is a whole season of hurricanes and tornados occurring at a minute’s notice. Get the best rates when you search for home insurance with iSelect. Cheap home insurance is available!

Paint

Painting is very important when it comes to selling your home. Once you’ve washed your walls, you’ll be able to see all of the imperfections in your paint! To cover this up, you’ll need a fresh coat of paint and primer. You don’t want to paint your home in vibrant colors since that may deter possible buyers from choosing your home. Although painting isn’t a large expense, it is a lot of back-breaking work for someone trying to renovate a whole house on their own—so do it well! If a buyer is trying to decide between two homes, paint color could be their deciding factor. Paint your home in neutral colors and avoid hard-to-hide colored accent walls.

Floor Renovations

Floor renovations can include anything from cleaning your grout to installing new flooring. If you’ve got existing wood flooring like parquet or hardwood floors, sanding scratches and staining your flooring a neutral brown color can enhance your floor and make it glimmer like it’s new! New flooring doesn’t have to be expensive. Even if your home currently has a lot of square footage, there are new types of laminate floors that are affordable and neutral, thus able to match any type of decor. If you’re not keen on laminate floor installation, there are professionals that can install flooring for you at a low price.

Preparing your house for sale can take up a lot of time but if you gather your friends and family together you can complete all of your tasks within the span of just a few weeks. Keep your colors neutral and don’t go crazy putting in new cabinets and cupboards. Homebuyers may want to work with a clean slate if they’re buying a fixer-upper. So if you choose to sell your home as-is try not to add new cabinets or change the appliances. If you’re selling your home as-is, be wary that fixer-uppers may be bought by companies that are trying to make a profit. Either way, be sure that your hard work is insured by an affordable home insurance provider just in case anything happens between the time you’ve prepared your home for sale and the close of escrow.