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Thinking About Selling Next Year? Start Preparing Now
If you’re thinking about selling your home sometime next year, it may feel like you have plenty of time. And you do—but that doesn’t mean you should wait until a few weeks before listing to start getting ready.
In my experience, some of the smoothest and most successful home sales begin months before the property ever hits the market.
Preparing early doesn’t mean putting a For Sale sign in the yard tomorrow. It means developing a plan now so you can make smart decisions without feeling rushed later.
Start by Finding Out What Your Home Is Worth
One of the first things I recommend is getting a realistic idea of your home's current market value.
Online estimates can be interesting, but they don't know your home's condition, improvements, location within the neighborhood, lot, views, floor plan or how it compares with the homes buyers are actually considering.
A professional market analysis gives us a starting point.
And if you're not planning to sell for another six or twelve months, that's perfectly fine. The purpose isn't necessarily to determine your eventual listing price today. It's to understand where you stand and what might improve your position before you sell.
Don't Spend Money Until You Have a Plan
This is particularly important.
Homeowners sometimes assume they need to remodel the kitchen, replace flooring, repaint everything or spend thousands of dollars preparing a house for sale.
Maybe.
Maybe not.
Before spending $10,000 trying to increase your home's value, let's determine whether buyers are likely to give you that $10,000 back.
Some improvements can make a significant difference. Others may make the house prettier without substantially increasing what a buyer will pay.
I would much rather help you identify the improvements that matter—and the ones you can probably skip.
Take Care of the Little Things Over Time
When you have several months to prepare, a long list of projects suddenly becomes much more manageable.
Instead of trying to accomplish everything two weeks before photographs are scheduled, you can gradually address things such as:
Deferred maintenance and minor repairs
Touch-up painting
Landscaping and curb appeal
Decluttering closets, cabinets and the garage
Removing items you don't plan to take with you
Organizing paperwork and records for major home improvements
Servicing major systems when appropriate
A little work every month can make a tremendous difference by the time you're ready to sell.
Watch the Market Before You Enter It
Another advantage of starting early is that we can watch your competition.
What are homes in your neighborhood listing for?
More importantly, what are they actually selling for?
Which homes sell quickly? Which ones sit on the market? Which properties require price reductions?
Those homes provide valuable information about what buyers are willing to pay and what they expect for their money.
By the time you're ready to list, we aren't starting from scratch. We've already been studying the market.
Start Thinking Like a Buyer
After living in a home for years, it's difficult to see it the way someone walking through the front door for the first time will see it.
That's normal.
Buyers aren't looking at your memories. They're evaluating whether the property works for their future.
That's why preparing early gives us time to look objectively at presentation, condition, maintenance, clutter, furniture placement and anything else that could affect a buyer's first impression.
The goal isn't to turn your home into somebody else's house.
It's to make it easier for buyers to imagine it becoming their home.
Preparation Gives You Options
Perhaps the biggest advantage of planning early is simply having options.
When homeowners wait until they absolutely must sell, circumstances often dictate their decisions.
When they start preparing months in advance, they get to make those decisions.
You can decide when to make repairs, what improvements make financial sense, what belongings to move or donate, when you want to list and what your next move will look like.
That's a much better position to be in.
You Don't Have to Be Ready to Sell to Talk to a Realtor
This is something I wish more homeowners understood.
You don't need to call me only when you're ready to sign a listing agreement.
If you're thinking:
"Maybe next spring."
"Probably sometime next summer."
"After I retire."
"Once the kids move."
"If the market improves."
That's exactly when a conversation can be valuable.
There doesn't have to be pressure or an immediate commitment. We can simply look at your situation, discuss the market and develop a realistic roadmap.
Thinking About Selling Next Year? Let's Start Planning This Year.
A little preparation today can make a big difference tomorrow.
If selling your Tucson-area home may be part of your plans next year, I'd be happy to sit down with you and help determine what makes sense—and just as importantly, what doesn't make sense to spend money on.
Wes Stolsek,
REALTOR®
OMNI Homes International
520-404-9773
Your home doesn't have to be ready for the market today. You just need a plan for getting it there.
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