Selling your house for the first time seems intimidating. Obstacles litter the route like landmines from the list to close, including deadlocks in negotiations, surprises during inspections, and buyers with irrational requests.

 

A checklist is what you'll need – a step-by-step guide to everything you'll need to sell your home. After reading this, you'll never have to wonder, "What do I need to sell my house?" again.

 

White and Brown Concrete House Near Green Grass

 

First off, you need a team of professionals on your side — these are the people who can help make the process easier. 

 

Real Estate Agent

 

Do you think you don't need the services of an agent? You should know that selling a property on your own is difficult - you'll have to perform all of the work of preparing your home for sale, as well as promoting it and knowing the ins and outs of the housing market. Trying to sell your house on your own might take a long time and cost a lot of money.

 

Listing Preparation

 

General:

  • Repaint rooms to light, neutral color
  • Remove personal photos and knick-knacks from around the house
  • Organize storage area
  • Clean all the rooms - Deep clean everything, including vacuuming dust from vents, dusting fan blades, and getting cobwebs out of corners in high ceilings
  • Wash all windows and glass surfaces
  • Trim back bushes (they shouldn’t touch the exterior of your home or block the view out of windows)
  • Remove any debris, hoses, yard art, or other items from the yard
  • Start with your curb appeal landscaping
  • Make sure the front door hardware is in good shape and repaint the front door and trim if need be (first impressions are important!)
  • Have your porch/driveway and exterior of the house washed/cleaned

 

Before and during listing the home, you’ll want to get:

 

Listing agreement

  • This includes all of the terms of your agreement with your agent.

Mandatory disclosures

  • Although not necessary in all places, in many, all sellers are legally obligated to reveal any information that may be of interest to the buyer.

Inspection reports

  • Any and all house and property inspections you've done (home, pest, pool, etc.) as well as the outcomes of those inspections

Offer and counteroffer forms

Closing statement

  • shows how much money you made from the sale (what the buyer paid for the house, minus the costs of selling your home)

 

It’s a journey, no doubt, but it’s much easier when you know where you’re going and you have a guide you can trust.