What Should You Do Once a For Sale Sign is in Your Front Yard?

Once your home goes up for sale, there are plenty of things you need to do. You may have been working on getting repairs done, light remodeling and getting things ready to list the home, but the work doesn’t stop once the for sale sign has been posted. Here are some of the things you should make sure you do once you’re home is listed for sale.

Keep the Home in Show Ready Condition

If you’re serious about selling, your home needs to stay in show ready condition. You never know when a potential buyer might want to see the home and you need to be ready. Keep the decor to a minimum, keep the home clean and don’t let clutter pile up. In addition, make sure the air conditioning is turned up and leave plenty of lights on.

Invite the Neighbors In

Your neighbors will get nosey and they will probably show up for an open house. Don’t turn them down or become annoyed. Instead, invite them in and treat them just as you would any other potential buyer. They may know someone looking for a home or might even share a picture on social media for you.

Put the Pets in Doggy Daycare

You may think this is silly, but if you cannot leave work to get the dog out of the house for a walk during a showing, you may have to cancel. If this happens too much, your home may sit on the market for more than a month, which means buyers will likely think they can offer less for your home.

Doggy Daycare is something you can use to ensure your pets are taken care of, while you show your home. Consider having them put in daycare any time you will not be home. While this might be a bit expensive, it’s nothing compared to getting lower offers because you had to cancel showings.

Minimalize and Neutralize the Kids Rooms

Potential buyers don’t really want to see your daughter’s room decked out in princess attire or your son’s room all decked out with their favorite sports stars. Even turning a room into too cute of a baby’s room can hurt your selling possibilities.

Kid’s rooms should have the minimum amount of furniture and should be very neutral. They can decorate their new rooms when you move, but right now, keep the kids rooms as minimal and neutral as possible.

Put Valuables in a Safe Place

While having someone walk off with one of your items at a showing is rare, it’s still possible. Anything valuable should be locked away or stored away somewhere safe. Don’t forget, potential buyers will open just about every door, whether to a room or a cabinet. Make sure your valuables are not easy to see, find or take.

Let Your Agent Handle the Showing

You don’t even need to be there during the showing. Your agent or the buyer’s agent will be the one touring the home with potential buyers. Make yourself scarce so that you don’t have to answer questions you don’t want to answer. Often, when you talk to the buyer, it can do more harm than good. Let your agent handle the talking.

Don’t Turn Down Showings

No matter how inconvenient, you need to take every single showing offered. Every single one could be the one that makes an offer you accept. Don’t try to reschedule or you could lose the buyer. Instead, be ready to take showings at any time and without much notice.

Relax and Don’t Go Crazy

Selling a home is a process and it can become stressful. Buyers may show up late or not even show up. They could make comments that hurt your feelings, as well. Understand, selling a home isn’t personal, but a business transaction and your real estate agent needs to become your shield throughout the process.

Let your agent do the talking, the showing and handle all the leg work. You don’t even need to meet the potential buyers early on in the process. Instead, relax and don’t allow the process of selling your home make you crazy.

Selling a home is very serious and you have to find a way to take the personal out of it. Even if you’ve lived in the home for decades, raised your kids there and it has a ton of memories for you, it’s important to know why you’re selling and keep it about the business of selling. Listen to your agent and you’ll get that home sold faster, without nearly as many headaches.