Deciding to sell your home is no easy choice. In fact, for many home sellers, it’s one of the most significant financial (and emotional!) decisions you can make. Selling your home successfully takes a lot of work, and the result can have a big impact on your life. That’s why you don’t want to be willy-nilly about it.
They say ‘Rome wasn’t built in a day,’ and the same goes for selling a home. It takes planning, strategy, and some good-old-fashioned elbow grease to properly prepare, list, and market a home for sale.
With that said, is it reasonable to decide to sell your home on one day and expect to have it hit the market the next day? The next week? In this post, we’re taking a look at how long it really takes to prepare a home for sale.
First, Consider Your Selling Goals
What are you hoping to achieve from your home sale? Looking to get the highest possible price? Do you want to sell in the shortest amount of time? Chances are, you said yes to both of these questions, but let’s take it a step further.
Is there something that is influencing your decision to sell? Perhaps you’re starting a new job, maybe you’re selling on behalf of a loved one, or maybe you’re hoping to have your current home sold and be moved into your new home before the school year starts.
Each person is different, and the goals and circumstances around your home sale will greatly influence how much time you have to prepare.
Wondering how to sell your home faster and for more money than other homes on your street? Sign up for my completely FREE Outsell Your Neighbour Challenge and get exclusive emails with tips and tricks to, well, outsell your neighbour! Sign up right here.
Think Like a Buyer
Buyers today are picky. In most cases, they are looking for a turnkey home where they can just get the keys and move in. They have no patience for homes that appear neglected and are truly seeking that instant gratification of a turnkey property.
No one wants to buy a home that comes complete with a laundry list of repairs and small jobs that need to be done.
What is the Ideal Amount of Time to Prepare Your Home For Sale?
Selling your home in today’s market involves a lot more than just snapping some photos and posting to the MLS®. Today’s buyers are savvy, intelligent shoppers who can spot a sketchy deal from a mile away.
That’s why, if given the choice, I always recommend taking as much time as possible to prepare your home for sale. Doing it right will help ensure you get the results you want.
At your initial consultation with me, we’ll talk about your home, your goals, the market, and what we can do to make your home stand out from other listings in the area.
From there, we might do any number of these things to get your home in the shape it needs to be in, including:
- Decluttering and deep cleaning
- Minor or major repairs
- Home staging
Once the prep work is done, we move into marketing, which could include a diverse range of digital and print campaigns.
Why is this important?
Everything we do takes time, especially when we’re working with an extended team of professionals.
Here are a few examples:
- If we hire a professional cleaner, maybe someone on their team is on vacation. As a result, they are a little backed up and can’t clean your home until next week.
- Did we recommend installing new lighting? What if the fixtures we want are on back order?
- Maybe we’re repainting your home, but the painter needs to do a few extra coats. That’s going to take a bit longer to dry.
If you give yourself a nice, long timeline to complete these tasks, you won’t feel rushed or stressed out if you get thrown an unexpected curveball. And we’ll have time to make sure the task is checked off properly, so as not to compromise the success of your sale.
Looking for more home-selling help? I have several FREE guides you might find helpful! Download them right here:
Is it Possible to Sell Your Home Faster Than This?
Listen, I am just as guilty of being a ‘Last-Minute Jolene’ as anyone else. I understand that sometimes, you can’t help when you need to sell. And at the end of the day, we’ll scramble if we need to.
It’s possible to prepare and list your home at the last minute, but you need to adjust your expectations. If you meet with an agent who promises to sell for the highest price in the shortest time, and (wait for it) they can have your home ready to hit the market by tomorrow, that should be a huge red flag. Run, don’t walk away from this person.
Looking for more market insight and exclusive tips and advice? Subscribe to my monthly newsletter right here.
What’s the Sweet Spot?
All this said, we don’t need you to spend the next 5 years preparing your home for sale. There is a sweet spot where the amount of preparation you do yields the best results.
For my clients, I always consider the return on investment. Will fixing that leaky faucet or painting your front door result in more money in your pocket? If the answer is yes, then it’s worth our time to make sure that gets done before the listing goes live. Will staging the home lead to more offers and a faster sale? If so, then taking a little extra time to do a good job staging will be worth the effort when the offers start pouring in.
So let’s get back to the main question: is it possible to get your house prepped and listed for sale within a day? Yes, it is. But you might not be happy with the results.
Selling homes is not just my job, it’s what I love the most. Nothing is more exciting than crafting and executing an unstoppable plan to help my clients get the best results possible. If you’re thinking about selling your home, get in touch with me today and see exactly what we can do.
Give me a call at 780.910.1317, email me at jolene@jolenelangelle.com, or fill out the form on this page to get in touch!
Southwest Edmonton Resource
Get to know me and learn how my extensive local expertise empowers your next purchase or sale.
