Laura Rice's Ultimate Guide to Selling Your Home in Louisville

 

Let’s face it — selling a home is no small feat. Actually, it can be rather stressful because you want the process to move quickly so you can move onto the next step of your life in your gorgeous new property. But once all of the work is done, there’s something magical about signing all of the necessary paperwork and breathing out a sigh of relief at a job well done.

Naturally, the selling process is facilitated by a stellar real estate agent, but there are some details you want to pay attention to along the way. Let’s take a look at what you can do to make your home-selling process as smooth and profitable as possible.

 

Chances are that when you sell your home, you’ll be buying another. Make sure to check in with your lender and broker to get your own financing secured, preferably more than what you’ll actually need in order to make your offer stand out among the other bids. Once your financing is secured, you’ll have a window of time that you can make offers and be backed up by the bank. However, if the approval expires, you’ll have to get another approval, so timing is key. Although this step has nothing to do with the actual property itself, it’s often one of the most important steps to get the ball rolling. Without it, there’s little to no chance of moving the transaction forward.

While cleaning each room may seem trivial and doesn’t speak to the actual structural integrity of the house or any significant details about the longevity of the property, the superficial things are what buyers will notice first. First impressions are essential when trying to sell your home, as they can make or break a potential homebuyer’s offer before they even step into the home. Therefore, your agent will recommend a thorough cleaning of the property, either by yourself, or if the budget allows, by a professional cleaning company to make every corner shine.

This is one of the lower-cost preparations for putting your home on the market, but it’s absolutely one of the most important. Potential buyers will no doubt want to do an inspection if they make an offer to make sure everything is in working order, but what they’ll remember, even if there are some issues with the inspection, is that very first impression of sparkle and immaculateness.

 

Although they won’t take much money to repair, another factor that will make a significant impression on buyers is fixing the little things, such as paint chips, cracked glass, or a squeaky door. These fixes are relatively inexpensive but will catch the attention of serious buyers. Hiring a handyman or doing it yourself will require a little bit of time but will be well worth it in the long run. Other home-selling tips, such as staging and open houses, are definitely something to speak to your Louisville realtor about.

It’s not possible to sell your Louisville home overnight, obviously, so planning to get it on the market during the high season will begin a month or two before you actually get it listed. Once you do, it can take a while for offers, inspections, approvals, and signing documents to come together. This brings us to the more significant fixes that need attention. These can be anything like a new coat of paint on the inside or the outside of the home or even something major like a new roof.

Major fixes can be quite an investment, so you’ll need to consult with your agent on a strategy for deciding what to fix and what to leave alone. A dilapidated roof will come out in an inspection, and a repair this large might be enough for buyers to back out of the offer. On the other hand, a roof that has been replaced immediately prior to listing will be an attractive feature because buyers will know that they won’t need to worry about it for years to come. This brings us to your potential return on investment (ROI).

 

The ROI determines whether or not certain repairs or upgrades will be worth it in terms of the final sale price. Calculating the ROI is an excellent way to decide which steps to take in order to make the sale as beneficial as possible to the one selling the home.

For example, you might have no trouble fixing a squeaky door with a few cents worth of lubricant, but you may find that spending $10,000 on a structural enhancement might not be worth it. First and foremost, speak to your agent to devise a plan. Things such as bathroom fixtures and kitchen upgrades are generally beneficial for ROI purposes. Those are typically the rooms that sell houses the most because they have the biggest impression on buyers.

Take these home-selling tips to your Louisville real estate agent and talk them over. There’s no doubt they’ll have a hand on the pulse of the local market and be able to inform and guide you as to the specific things that the market is doing at the time you want to sell. This may save you the trouble of doing something that was unnecessary or overlooking a step that was imperative. With all of their experience in streamlining the process of selling a home, this is the ally you want on your side in order to make your home sale as quick and stress-free as possible.

When you’re ready to take the next step and search Louisville homes for sale, reach out to Laura Rice for help. Laura and her team are ready to help you prepare your home to look its best on the Louisville real estate market and get those offers flying in. Before you know it, you’ll have that “Sold!” sale on the front lawn!

 

Recommended reading: Louisville Real Estate Market Forecast