TRUSTED ADVISOR

Tips For Home Selling

I have worked with a number of home sellers. Although each home seller is unique there are things that can happen along the way that I have seen time and time again. Here are my tips for home selling!

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If you are selling and moving into a larger place

  • Although downsizing of your belongings isn’t required, I still encourage you to use the move as an opportunity to purge the items that you and your family no longer need. That way you aren’t spending time or energy moving things that you should just be getting rid of.
  • Prepare for and plan on how you are going to move specialty items such as pianos, special artwork, and heavy safes.
  • Remember to include an increase in utilities, property taxes, maintenance, and homeowner’s insurance into your monthly budget.

If you are selling and moving into a smaller place

  • Try to downsize as you pack. If you are moving from a 3,000 square foot space to a 1,500 square foot space, about half of your belongings will need to find another home.
  • Measure furniture and large artwork and make sure it will fit before you pay to have it moved. Determine if you will sell or donate these pieces (and coordinate their removal before moving).
  • Also remember to think about closets and garage space and how that will change.

If you are selling and buying

  • Let’s test the market by looking at a few homes that are in your expected price range before your home is on the market so you can make sure that what you think you can buy is within your budget.
  • Let’s make a best-case and worst-case scenario plan for moving. We know in a perfect world that having a simultaneous close on your sale and purchase is ideal, but what if you need some more time to buy. Remember, I play real estate matchmaker, not real estate settler!
  • Keep paperwork that the lender may need easily accessible! In the flurry of packing, it can be easy to forget to leave the bank statements and tax forms in a spot where you can get to them.