Getting your house ready to sell can seem overwhelming, not knowing where you should even begin. Just getting started is the hardest part, even if there just seems to be so much to do initially. The good news? Selling your house and downsizing in Kansas City doesn’t have to be such a daunting undertaking. If you start early enough and do the things that matter the most first, it will be far more manageable. Also, keep in mind that if you have any equity in your house, it’s a job for which you’ll be handsomely paid at the end – the sale. Your home buying decision years back is one that can be a positive light for you as you are downsizing or preparing for your next home.
Determine a Listing Date and Work Backward
The very first step in preparing for selling your Kansas City house is to set a planned listing date based on your goals. In the Kansas City area spring through early summer are our hottest buyer activity months. As a Seniors Real Estate Specialist® we know that you only get once chance on the market to make a good first impression. Especially important when you are downsizing in Kansas City as you likely have an accumulation of personal belongings to tend do. That means we want to ensure you have time to get it ready for market. There is help available every step of the way should you need it! From decluttering rooms, trimming shrubs and cleaning up landscaping – we coordinate many of these activities for our home sellers. Once you’ve set a target listing date, work backward from there to plan the work in stages that move forward toward the date set. We provide our home owners that are downsizing in Kansas City a personalized action plan & strategy for preparing your home to sell and maximize how it shows on market. If you know you have a lot of items to sort through or home clean up to finish, make sure to give yourself plenty of time. No buyer showings will take place until your home is officially on the market!
Get Other Eyes on It
It’s always a good idea to get another set of eyes on your house. So ask someone you know and trust to do a walk-through with you to see what needs to be done and someone who will give you honest feedback. When you’ve been living in a home, you get accustomed to many things and are no longer aware that they need repairing or updating. You can be sure, however, that buyers will see everything – all those flooring flaws, worn paint, sagging bits of ceiling trim, or pet odors – that no longer draw your attention – buyers most definitely will notice. Make sure, then, that the friend you choose to help you out has a keen eye and will be brutally honest. Don’t have someone in mind? Don’t worry! – we will always provide our home sellers with honest feedback about preparing your home for sale. We know what buyers are going to notice and we’d rather let you know ahead of time so we can plan for solutions than get your home on the market and encounter negative buyer feedback that could’ve been prevented while your home sits on the market.
Get Rid of the Clutter
Another key preparation for selling your Kansas City house is getting rid of all the clutter. You know that already. The trick is deciding just what can stay and what has to go.
Go check out some online listing photos of higher-end houses and pay attention to what you see – or, more specifically, what you don’t see. Basically, in those photos, you’ll see maybe a chair, a couch, a coffee table, a couple of end tables, and nothing more. And that’s the look you need to try to achieve. So get rid of or move to storage anything that will detract from that open, inviting look. Buyers are always drawn to a “model home” look and that always means decluttered. Ask us about a photo prep guide that will help guide your decluttering decisions as your prepare to sell your home.
Attitude plays a big role here, so just look at it as pre-moving. You’ll already have a big part of that job of moving already done. Everything you keep in your home should contribute to the overall feeling and effect that will entice buyers.
Start Painting
Selling your Kansas City house to downsize may involve a certain amount of painting if your paint hasn’t been refreshed or updated, is marked or outdated colors. Filling, patching, and painting walls will make your house look markedly cleaner, fresher, and more inviting. It doesn’t really cost all that much. But colors do matter – a lot.
At this stage, you should no longer view your house as your home, but, rather, as an asset. So when prospective buyers come through, you don’t want them seeing colors they will want to paint over. The consensus among real estate professionals is that you should use light, neutral colors – colors that will help buyers to see your house as their new home. While there are exceptions for specifically styled homes or types of architecture – in general neutral is the way to go.
If you’re planning on selling your Kansas City house this year, you do need to start preparing now. But if you follow our tips here, that apparently huge job will be far easier to manage.
