Before putting your house on the market, there are some important steps you must take to get the most from your investment and to protect your interests.
Step One
Get pre-approved to buy another house before you sign a contract to sell your own home. If your financial situation changed since your last purchase, it’s possible that you may no longer qualify for another loan. You may also be unable to sell your house for a price that will allow you to buy another house you want. This way, you won’t end up renting or buying a house you don’t really want. When applying for a pre-approval, be sure the lender discloses the estimated costs required for you to purchase a new home, such as: the loan price, deposit, new insurance, title and valuation fees.
Step Two
Call your lender to check the mortgage pay off and calculate the estimated proceeds. First, you will need to subtract the mortgage pay off from the fair market value of your home. Second, you will need to subtract the costs to sell your home from the remainder in order to get an idea of the proceeds you can expect to be paid at closing.
Step Three
Determine your homes fair market value. Most real estate agents will gladly help you determine the market value as a courtesy and may also give you helpful hints to what you can do to increase the value of your house.
Step Four
Estimate what it will cost you to sell your house. Estate agent fees, advertising, signs, solicitors fees, bank fees and other possible fees involved. These other fees may include: surveys, taxes and management company service charge fees. Real estate agents can give you a more precise estimate of the closing costs and any other fees that may be involved. Real estate agents are professionals that deal with these transactions every day and can prove to be a valuable asset to you.
Step Five
Make repairs. Whether these repairs can be done by you or by hiring a contractor, they should be completed. If there are too many repairs that need to be done, your home will be considered a fixer upper. You want to get the most out of your house and dissuade potential buyers from submitting insultingly low offers. These repairs can range from fixing a broken window, adding a fresh coat of paint, replacing or repairing the flooring, to plastering a hole in the wall. The larger repairs may include fixing a damaged roof or repairing damaged siding. Other issues that can deter a potential buyer is mould and mildew stains and odours, leaky basements, lead based paint, broken gutters, location or type of circuit breaker, plumbing problems and old or faulty electrical wiring.
Step Six
Before you show your house, do some spring cleaning, regardless of what season it actually is. Organise your shelves and wardrobes, wash the crayons off the wall, dust off the blinds and window sills, clean away the cob webs and wash all windows and appliances.
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