So you are excited about putting your home on the market to see what kind of offers you get? Before you contact your local real estate agent to get the ball rolling there are some important things to consider.

Selling your home is a big event that will probably come with a lot of emotion, but rather than leave your home in the hands of the selling agent and lady luck, it pays (financially, emotionally and intellectually) to have a solid plan to sell in place. After all this is your biggest and most important asset. Having a say and acting with confidence is important, especially if you are feeling overwhelmed or out of your depth. Now is the time to do the research and be firmly in the driver’s seat of your sale.

There is another reason to plan your home sale, and that’s your future. In most cases once you sell you will be looking to buy again, either to upgrade to a bigger property, change to a new location or downsize. Whichever one you are aiming for the amount you get for your current home will have an impact on where you go next and what your future lifestyle will look like, therefore, no one will be more invested, motivated or passionate about your home sale than you are.

PLAN TO SELL

1. Start early

A rushed sale is sometimes necessary but for most people the best way to get started is to go slowly and allow yourself a few months to get into the swing of things. This is the best way to get emotionally prepared for a sale and to detach from a home of memories and switch into an asset for a business sale. One way to do this is to get focused on your future moves and where you want to be in 12 months time.

Take a few months to research about similar homes that have sold as well as personal accounts from other people who have recently gone through the sale process to get an idea of what you can expect. The more research you do the more realistic your selling goals will be and you can go to the selling agent with a wish list that is more fact than fantasy.

Consider:

• How much you want for your home

• How long the property will be on the market

• How many opens you want and what times/days

• If you need to stage some rooms

• What repair work you need to do before sale

• What settlement timeframe you need

• If you are better off going to sale or auction

2. Find the right real estate agent

Fining the right agent to represent your home sale goes far deeper than the estimation they give you. Make sure you make face to face appointments in their office and ask as many questions as you need to be sure the person you are talking to knows how to sell your home. They need to have experience in selling your particular type of property, be honest, approachable and have good listening skills.

When choices are presented are they well explained with the options and outcomes clearly detailed? This is important as there may be decision making points that occur during the sale, you need to know the person representing you is going to be able to give you all the information you need to make a confident decision.

3. Know how much it costs to sell

People can be so consumed by how much they will make from a sale of a property they forget about the costs. Some of the costs to sell occur upfront, some at sale and others at settlement. Get familiar with what your home sale is going to require and put money aside early to cover everything you need, including the final move. Having a selling budget will allow you to do the work on your home that it needs and take a lot of the emotional pressure off, as well as reduce any nasty surprises that can occur if you are caught financially unaware.

4. Get your conveyancer on board early

By law you need to employ a conveyancer to represent the legal side of your home sale after the agreement is signed through to when the settlement ends. Waiting until after you sign the agreement however can be too late for some trouble spots.

Get your conveyancer on board as soon as you are serious about selling. They can offer a wealth of helpful information and can alert you to traps and triggers for problems well before you sign on the dotted line.

For more details on how to sell your home with confidence sign up for the free Ebook…. SELLING GUIDE…

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