We did not plan on selling our house during a pandemic. Selling a home anytime can be one of the most stressful situations in the world, even if everything goes perfectly. Whether you sell your home in a hot market or a pandemic market, these six steps help sell a house quickly, but you must be willing to do a little work and remain flexible. We were able to sell our home, not once, but twice in less than a month (a story for another day).

Selling a home anytime can be one of the most stressful situations in the world, even if everything goes perfectly. These six steps can help sell your home in a pandemic or quickly.

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1. Clean, your home like grandma is coming! – Now is an excellent time to declutter your home and take inventory of all the stuff you have.
   • Remove all personal effects such as family photos or hobby items and pack them away. A buyer needs to picture themselves in this home. Your beautiful family photos staring back at them only distract a buyer. Instead of them being a voyeur checking out your religious crosses on the wall ensure they spend time looking at the features of the house.
   • Go through all closets – messy overpacked wardrobes do not show off the size of closets. Clean out every closet and cabinet in the home. Pack away all seasonal clothes, throw out a partially used shampoo bottle. If you have not touched it in six months, or you are waiting to lose 10 pounds, those clothing items should be donated. When done, your closet should look empty, with only 20 items hanging. Shoes and folded items need to be displayed nicely.
   • Deep clean the home – this is the time to get out the toothbrush and clean all the nooks and crannies. Wipe down areas such as baseboards, ceiling fans, trim or molding, cabinet fronts to make the home shine. Short on time, hire professional cleaners to help you out! Clean carpets, tile grout, and even stained upholstery. A clean home not only shows better but shows you loved and took care of the house.
2. Honey Do List –Spending time upfront before a buyer or inspector can find a problem in the home, really saves you headaches, time, and money to ensure you get your asking price.
   • Knock out all the minor repairs you have been putting off. Fix the leaky faucet, grease the squeaky door, replace that broken tile, remove and caulk the nasty gunk around the shower.
   • A fresh coat of paint. While painting the whole house can be expensive, a lot of times, the money spent on paint will typically ensure an increased purchase price. Remember, your “well-loved home” is up against a brand-new home. A fresh coat of paint can give a house a facelift. When picking paint, make sure to choose very neutral colors and paint over any colored walls like the pink wall in the kids’ bedroom. You are shooting for neutral colors to make the home look like a new canvas for a buyer.
   • Consider changing out old fixtures such as lights or faucets as styles tend to change about every five years. If your home has old brass fixtures, consider updating to more contemporary fixtures to give your home a facelift. Install new hardware on kitchen and bathroom cabinets.
3. Curb appeal – Now that your home is clean and decluttered, you need a critical eye to help walk through your home and make sure your home wows buyers.
   • Put your decorator hat on. Ask a friend, a decorator, or even a realtor to walk through your home and give you some advice. Check your ego at the door. While my gorgeous turquoise chandelier was one of my most favorite things in my house, it was very polarizing and could turn off a buyer. Rooms need to look large and inviting, so removing furniture like great aunt Matilda’s china cabinet can open a place. Rent a temporary storage unit to move big bulky furniture items (or even better – sell them on Facebook Marketplace to help fund repairs). Stage rooms for a new purpose – hide the sewing machine or craft supplies to make the room look like an office. A mattress on the floor does not make the same kind of impression as a lovely, inexpensive bedroom set at Ikea.
   • First impression – The outside of your home can make or break a showing as it is the first thing the buyer sees. Make sure the exterior of your home shines. Now is the time to hire a landscaper or put on your gardening shoes!
     • Paint the front door and replace door fixtures if needed
     • Trim overgrown trees, shrubs, and hedges.
     • Power wash the exterior of your home. Clean all the windows.
     • Clear out any clutter like old pots or gardening tools.
     • Patch dead spots in the lawn. Remove any weeds.
     • Get new mulch or rock.
     • Plant some flowers.
4. Mystery Shop – This is the fun part of selling your home quickly. Go tour homes for sale in your area for comparison. This will help you in preparing your home to make sure it stacks up against the competition but will also help you in your selling strategy. Things to consider when mystery shopping:
   • Look at new homes. Your home will likely be up against new construction homes. You will be able to get a feel for what is in style and being offered. Do not be afraid of new homes; many times, older homes have better value as they already have window treatments, fences, and upgrades not included in new constructions.
   • Look at older homes too. Look for similar size homes in your area to get a comparison. Benefit from their presentation mistakes and find ways you can make your home shine!
   • Get pricing – before you even contact a realtor, get information on asking prices in your area. You can do a quick Zillow search and find what homes in your area are not only listed for but selling for as well. Gathering comps can help you determine y sale price.
5. Pick a realtor – coming from a real estate family, I firmly believe in the power of hiring a real estate professional versus “FSBO” (for sale by owner) to help sell your home quickly. While hiring a realtor comes with a hefty commission, you typically get more eyeballs, help in contract negotiations, and can stay out of legal troubles. But not all realtors are created equally, so choose wisely!
   • Ask for referrals – Be sure you are not going with your husband’s, cousin’s, nephew. When mystery shopping homes, be sure to be keeping out an eye for a realtor too. Find one you like, ask to speak with the last few clients to see how satisfied they were with the realtor.
   • Interview your realtor. Gather a list of questions to ask an agent and interview at least three agents. Be sure to ask whom you will be dealing with during your transaction. Going with a prominently named realtor means you will typically be dealing with a team of people and may never have your realtor engaged except during contract negotiations.
   • Marketing budget. Picking a smaller realtor or newer agent may mean a more hands-on approach, and they will work harder for you, but they may not have the marketing budget to get tons of eyeballs.
   • Professional photography – you want to make sure the realtor you pick uses a professional photographer. Photos do make a difference. If you are in a large relocation area, you may consider making sure your realtor has technology for a virtual tour (panoramic shots). With this pandemic, virtual tours have never been more critical. My sister-in-law just bought a house online, site unseen!
   • Write your own listing – Only you know how unique your home is. Be sure you write your own listing to submit to your realtor to make sure they do not miss any features of your home.
   • Negotiate – while you can always negotiate commission, remember you are hiring a professional. I would caution starting out trying to negotiate a reduced commission, instead save this tactic if needed during contract concessions. Upfront, you should be able to negotiate the buyer’s agreement term, which is typically six months. This means you are under contract to deal only with your selling agent for six months. Instead, request a thirty-day buyers’ agreement; that way, if you do not feel your agent is working for you, you can change quickly.
   • Pocket Listing –a pocket listing is a tactic where you can sell your home before it is listed. Your realtor knows your home is coming up for sale and can share this information with other realtors and prospective buyers. Your home will not be listed in MLS or Zillow, but you could get traffic while you are preparing your home to sell.
   • Hold your realtor accountable – remember, they work for you. Call them frequently to check in to see what they are doing to sell your home. Even though you have hired a professional, stay engaged every step of the process to make sure things are getting done like inspections or closing documents in order. You have the most invested, so you need to act as your own representative!
6. Be flexible – The more accommodating you are for house showings, the better chances of getting more eyeballs on your home and selling your home quickly. Sure, last-minute showings are a pain, especially with small children, but you need to be prepared at a moment’s notice to have your home ready to show.
   • Be show ready – First thing in the morning, go through your home and make it show-ready – beds made, dishes done, candles staged, floors swept, or quickly mopped. Being prepared helps if you do receive a showing call, you can be ready in mere minutes.
   • Thirty-minute rule – with children, only allow one area to be played in or make messes that you can clean up within 30 minutes. Have a “go” bag staged at the door with jackets, snacks, iPad so you can throw the kids in the car and be prepared to drive around in circles for a couple of hours.
   • Open Houses – open houses do draw traffic, but not necessary every weekend. I would host an open house the first weekend you are listed and then again after any price reductions.
   • Private Showings – allow your realtor to host private showings or MLS tours so other realtors can see your home.

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Anytime you have a showing, set the mood with lightly scented candles, turn every light in the house on, have soft music like “yacht rock” playing in the background.

Finally, do not forget the finishing touches. Anytime you have a showing, set the mood with lightly scented candles, turn every light in the house on, have soft music like “yacht rock” playing in the background. We used feature cards in certain areas to point out improvements like brick paver patios, our upgraded HVAC. Little touches make your home stand out from the rest!

These six steps helped us sell our house in 8 days! Then we had a turn of bad luck, and the buyer backed out due to lack of financing. So, we quickly had to go through all the steps again and get the house ready to sell…. this time it took only four days to sell our home during a pandemic!

Hopefully, these steps will help you to sell your home quickly so you can enjoy the Bright Dais Ahead!

We want to hear from you!

What are some of your suggestions which helped you get your house ready to sell?

Did you have to sell your house during a pandemic?