Where To Start When Getting Your Home Ready for Sale

If you are getting ready to sell your home, you may be very excited. However, you may also be feeling stressed out if you don't know where to start. While getting your home ready for sale can be a stress-inducing experience, that doesn't mean that it has to be difficult. The good news is that by taking a moment and focusing on what is most important when it comes to selling your home, you can help ensure that you are making the right changes. 

Look At Your Exterior

If you aren't sure where to start, it can be a good idea to begin with the exterior of your home. Many may focus on the inside of their home, only to forget that the outside of it is what gives potential buyers their first impression.

When assessing your home's exterior, it is a good idea to address any damage or major issues first. After that, it can then be a good idea to consider the functionality of certain things, like your windows or your garage door. Once you have done that, you can then focus more on cosmetic issues or things that can have a direct impact on the appeal of your home, like pool cost or adding a new deck. 

Deal With Major Damage

After working on the outside of your home, you need to start considering the interior of your house, and how functional it is as a whole. If your home has sustained any major damage, making sure that you address it before putting it on the market is essential. Even if you agree to fix it, having a potential buyer see the damage in the first place can cause them to be less likely to want to buy your home and could result in you making less money on the sale than you might like. 

Update Your Kitchen and Bath

If your home is free of damage, then opting to update your kitchen and bathroom should be your next point of focus. This is because these two rooms undergo a lot more wear and tear than other rooms in your house. Along with getting more traffic, they also tend to see more water damage, too. 

In addition to these things, kitchen and bathroom trends usually change more quickly than decor trends for other areas of the home, so they can end up looking dated more quickly, as well. To make sure that these rooms are standing out, making some renovations can be worth it. While some may think that they need to dig into major remodeling work, the reality is that small changes can usually have a big impact and that doing things like installing new lighting or faucets can go a long way. 

Consider Finishing Your Basement

If your basement isn't already finished, and it could be, considering finishing it could be worth it in the long run. A finished basement can add lots of valuable living space to your home. Additionally, it adds living space that is versatile and can serve multiple different purposes, from being a kid's play area to a home office. 

Update Your Decor

Another thing that needs to be considered when you are getting ready to put your home on the market is your decor. Paint colors and decorations that are particularly bright or bold can end up being distracting to potential buyers, and they can make it more difficult for them to envision themselves living in the house. To help ensure that you aren't distracting a potential buyer from the true beauty of your home, opting for more neutral paint colors and more modern decorations can be a good move. 

Last Thoughts

Getting your home ready to put on the market can be a stressful experience if you aren't sure where to start. While it can seem like a lot to do, the good news is that by learning to focus on the right things, you can help take a lot of stress out of the experience.