What To Do Before Selling My Home: Seller’s Ultimate Guide

Michelle Pais

09/30/18

The process of selling a house can be very tiresome, especially if you have never sold one before and do not know what to do before selling your house. In New Jersey, Many people find the process overbearing because they do not know the right procedure to follow. If you are not actively searching for things like “how to sell my house for more money”, “What to do before selling my house”, “how to prepare for selling my house” or “the steps before selling my house”. For things of that nature, you are most likely to mess up the process and should just contact a REALTOR immediately. If you are looking to sell a house in New Jersey this blog post is a detailed guide on what to do before selling your house.
 

A Typical Home Sale In New Jersey

Usually, people are in a hurry to sell their houses. Putting things together at the last minute doesn’t work well with anything. Scrambling at the last minute to sell your house is a disaster.
 
The people who end up waiting until the last moment almost always end up messing this process up and end up regretting the entire home selling experience. I wrote this guide to help you do everything the right way. If you have any specific questions contacting a REALTOR should be your first step.
 

How to Prepare for a Home Sale in New Jersey

A realistic time frame to sell a home in New Jersey is about a week's worth of research plus however long it takes to find a REALTOR you feel comfortable with. Below you will find a list of things to do before you sell your house in New Jersey.
 
This checklist should be used every time you even think about selling a house.
 

Establish What the House Needs Before You Sell

You should know your house better than anyone. It is best that you sell your home when it is in move-in-ready condition. You do not want to sell the house in mediocre shape or for a price you feel is less than you should get just because the buyer will need to make some repairs. Study the house, and decide what is necessary for the house to be in perfect condition. A condition that someone would consider move-in ready is what you need to do in order for you to sell the home. Move-in ready means, good floors, walls, plumbing, electricity, everything is well kept. Your house should be in tip-top shape.
 
If the house is not in good condition, its value will definitely depreciate. There are a ton of small fixes that you can do yourself that are well worthwhile. If you want to sell your home for top dollar, the home needs to demand it. Most people assume their home will just sell in the top of the price range. The demanding top dollar comes from fixing the small things and making sure everything in the house works as it should. The goal is to start a bidding war between potential buyers.
 

Have an Idea of What Your New Jersey Home Is Worth Before Selling

Before selling your home you need to have a rough idea of what your home is worth. Some of the major pricing factors are the condition, neighborhood, and township. The square footage and size of the house are also factors when it comes to pricing your home. I would advise you to look up on Zillow and determine the approximate value of homes in your neighborhood go into the process of selling your home with at least a ballpark figure of how much to expect from the sale of your property in New Jersey. If you skip this step, the probability of you selling your houses at a lower price than its value is very high.
 
One of the most popular mistakes most house sellers do is overpricing their houses. When it comes to actually selling a home price means everything. Listen to your REALTOR, and always ask for recently sold comps.
 

Consult With a Local Expert Before Selling Your House

This step is mandatory. Get a REALTOR who really knows your neighborhood. Get him or her to visit the house you want to sell and give you their advice on what you should do to sell your house for the over asking top dollar that you have dreamed about.
 
Your REALTOR needs to have a plan, a price, and a reputation. When you talk to someone who wants to be your REALTOR they should come off as intelligent, have great social skills, and should be well prepared for your meeting.
 
The agent you go with will be your listing agent. The listing agent is in charge or marketing your house, and dealing with potential buyers. You should trust this person, and feel comfortable with giving them room to do their job. If you feel the need to be on top of your agent you might want to list with someone else.
 

Clean the House

Before you sell your home in New Jersey you need to go through a deep clean to figure out what you can bring up to other professionals to get their opinion. A good question might be something like “should I fix my back steps before selling my house?”, “do I need to fix a spot in my ceiling”? Small questions like that will come up through the cleaning and prep process.
 
Ensure the house is spotlessly clean, but take detailed notes on things that look fishy or do not look up to par. The first impression means a lot to potential buyers. Make sure it is on point! In order to maximize your home selling experience, you should think about what the buyer will actually see.
 

Organize and Prepare for Marketing

Your agent should know how to market and sell the house, but you need to understand a little bit of that process yourself so that you can make an informed decision before you list your home. There is an option to list the house yourself, but in most situations that is not the best thing to do. A good REALTOR will almost always pay for themselves by getting you the top dollar you really want as a seller.
 
Before you actually sell your home you need to understand the difference between listing with a REALTOR and listing the home as for sale by the owner.
 

Listing Your Home for Sale With an Agent

 
Listing your house with an agent is most likely the better choice. Here is a quick list of what an agent does and the advantage they give you.
 
  1. Lists your home for the right price
  2. Better home presentations
  3. Get more buyer exposure
  4. Highest offers from buyers
  5. Negotiates inspection results
  6. Speeds up time to close
  7. Home sells at top dollar
If you feel fine and are sure that you can do everything on your own you are welcome to list the house yourself. There are a ton of downsides to doing so. Unless you have actually sold a home before you should use a REALTOR. This blog post explains why it is wise to use a REALTOR.
 
In conclusion, you might have decided to sell your house for one reason or another, but you are stuck. You do not know what to do before you end up selling your house. People find the time before selling their homes to be chaotic, stressful, and overwhelming. With a little bit of help in the right direction, you will get through the tough process of preparing for the New Jersey home to be sold.


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