You’ve decided that it’s time to sell your first home perhaps because you want to be closer to work or you want to upgrade to a bigger, better house. Either way, you must be prepared for this process. Just like there are things you need to know before you buy your first home, there are also some things you need to know before selling your first house.
If you’re interested in selling your first house in Lexington, South Carolina, trust the experts on the Lafayette Team at EXP Realty. They have worked with first-time home buyers and sellers and love helping young professionals who are ready to “level up”.
In this article, we’ll explain 7 things you need to know when selling your first house.
7 Things to Know
As you prepare to sell your first house, keep the following in mind:
1. You’re selling your property, not your memories
When you list your home, you may be excited about selling and want to be the one to tell potential buyers all about it. However, the truth is, potential buyers are not interested in what it was like for you in the home. They want to be able to see themselves living there.
When it comes time to show your home, you should remove personal items, including awards and photos. Also, you should leave your house for several hours for each showing so potential buyers can walk through, ask questions, and avoid awkward interactions.
2. Leave photography and staging to the professionals
While it’s true that smartphone cameras have come a long way, they still do not replace the quality and value of professional photos. Most home buyers begin their search online, so they will be looking at photos, meaning it’s best that they’re taken by a professional real estate photographer.
Professional photos reduce the time it takes to sell your home and sometimes a real estate agent will cover the cost for the photos.
Staging
Many times, first time home sellers believe that staging is only for multi-million dollar homes, but staging makes any home more appealing for potential buyers.
3. Don’t neglect the home warranty
Many first-time home sellers don’t know the value of including a home warranty with the sale of the home. It can reduce your anxiety ahead of the home inspection. A home warranty is helpful if you are aware of issues with appliances or if you have systematic or structural items that are nearing the end of their life expectancy.
A home warranty isn’t real expensive and they provide comfort for the buyer. As the seller, you pay for the first year and after that, the buyer decides if they want to keep it up. The warranty can also settle disputes that come up during the inspection.
4. There’s more to the offer than the dollar amount
Of course, you want to get as much money as you can from selling your first house, but there are other factors to consider. Maybe they offered a lower amount but are willing to forego the home inspection or they are willing to close quickly.
Many times, if your primary focus is the dollar amount of the offer, you may end up paying more if they demand repairs or credits or if they have contingencies in their offer. Make sure you read the contract in full.
5. Understand the Home Inspection
Many times, a first time home seller is shocked when they get a list of repairs from the buyer. Though you are not always required to make the repairs, it’s helpful to know the potential costs and the repairs that you are responsible for completing. There’s no such thing as a perfect house- some issue will always come up.
When you are considering selling your first house, prevent issues by considering safety, system, as structure. You want to make sure things associated with systems, such as septic are fixed. Additionally, things related to safety, such as a missing handrail or things related to structure, such as a roof leak, should all be fixed. Cosmetic fixes can be left alone for the buyer to repair.
6. Have a home inspection prior to listing
Though it’s not required, having a home inspection conducted prior to listing your first house can help. It will help you uncover major issues so that you can get them fixed before you list the property. If your home is older, you may at least want to get a septic inspection prior to listing. Septic issues should be fixed by the seller. Also, if you’re not sure if the home has or had an underground oil tank, doing a tank sweep prior to listing is recommended.
7. Save all maintenance paperwork
Any time you have work done on your vehicle, you save the paperwork- so the same should be done for your house. When you have proof that routine maintenance has been done on the house, potential buyers feel more comfortable about buying it. If you have not saved this paperwork, don’t panic. Most companies do keep records of the work they’ve done, so it’s possible to get copies.
Conclusion
If you’ve decided that it’s time to sell your first home, contact the Lafayette Team At EXP Realty. They specialize in working with first time home buyers and sellers and are more than happy to help you with selling your first home.