There’s been a lot of uncertainly during these unprecedented times of the Coronavirus pandemic. Because of this uncertainty, or a host of other reasons, while you had originally planned to put the house on the market this year, you’ve decided to hold off until next year to sell. Sound like you or someone you know? While you may be feeling frustrated by the need to hold off, the good news is that you can be ahead of your house’s competition for buyers next spring by taking steps this fall to get ready to sell.
1. Get staging advice — According to the National Association of Realtors 2019 Profile of Home Staging Report, 83% of Buyer’s agents cited that a staged home made it easier for buyers to visualize the property as a future home. The biggest benefit of staging is that a buyer will see your home at its best, and their agent won’t need to say, “picture this” because you’ve already created the picture for them. Having a home stager come out now will give you an idea of the steps you can take (and the time) to get your home ready for sale.
2. Have a home inspection — A complete home inspection can give a seller of a home a thorough understanding of any problems or issues with the home before listing. Having a home inspection done now in preparedness to list next year will give you the chance to either fix the issues or reveal them and then show how the asking price has been adjusted accordingly.
3. Have exterior photos of your home taken now, even if you’re not listing until next year — Photos help sell homes, and one of the most important is the exterior of the home. Leaves on the trees and shrubs, flowers, and grass are much more appealing to look at to a potential buyer than snow drifts and bare branches. You won’t have to wait for the weather to improve to have exterior photos taken and list, giving yourself an advantage over other would-be sellers who are also planning to list next year and who are waiting for spring’s nice weather to arrive. An exception to this would be if you’re planning to complete exterior improvements, like a new roof, concrete repair, a new driveway, or landscaping. If so, you’re probably better of waiting until the work is complete before taking pictures.
Events this year may have caused you to hold off on selling your house, and you might be waiting until 2021 to list. Beginning the preparations this fall to sell next year will mean you’ll be ahead of your competition next spring to greet a historically winter-low inventory and hungry (not to mention 2020 low-inventory and hungry) buyer pool next spring.
