There is a lot to know when selling your Baton Rouge home. Whether you are selling your first home or have done this a time or two, our Guide to Selling is designed to help you every step of the way. Click through the tabs below to find out how:
Home Prep
Step One: DeClutter and DePersonalize
This step may be the most challenging in preparing your home for sale. We all have too much stuff. If you have lived in your house for any amount of time, you have also learned how to “store” things. We all do it, so don’t feel bad!
On the upside, decluttering your home before you sell it will also help with your moving expenses and cut down the unpacking time in your new place. That may be just the spark you need to motivate you!
When decluttering your home, we recommend removing anything that you don’t absolutely need. Hopefully, the selling process won’t take very long, and who knows, you may decide you like the minimalist living! Go through your closets and take out off-season clothing. We want those closets to appear large and welcoming. Think of a new construction model home or a Pottery Barn ad. Less furniture and fewer knick-knacks will make the home feel larger. It will also allow buyers to move around easier. It might even be worth it to rent a storage place for a bit to store things that you absolutely cannot part with.
When depersonalizing your home, think about things like artwork and personal photos. A rule that is easy to remember is “no eyes.” Remove any photos of people or pets. You want prospective buyers to be able to picture themselves in your home. The will not be able to visualize that if your personal photos are in the house, “watching” them move around.
Same goes for the trend of kids’ names in children’s rooms. We highly suggest to take these pieces of artwork down or paint over the names. It is not only a way to depersonalize, but a common sense safety precaution. Exposing your kids names and photos to strangers is just not smart in this day and age.
Step Two: Clean
You may need to take a break after decluttering and depersonalizing before starting this step. Cleaning your home in preparation to sell will be quite a task. Remember, we are looking for a magazine ad look. Some things that you may not think about are ceiling fans, crown moldings, baseboards, drawers, and cabinets. The prospective buyers will be inspecting every inch of your house, and you want it to sparkle! If you have children, we empathize with you. If you have teens, let us know—we have a little goodie to help incentivize them to help! Unfortunately, this isn’t a one and done exercise. You will need to make the beds, clean the counters, and make sure things are dusted and floors are in tip-top condition every day. Keeping your home show-ready may be a bit harder than the decluttering project you just tackled.
Step Three: Staging
Your home is decluttered, depersonalized, and clean. These are the first tasks needed to be completed before staging. Next, you will want to stage rooms to make them look their best to prospective buyers. Buyers are attracted to light, bright, and uncluttered. Remove any extra furniture pieces you may have. Doing this will make the space seem larger. Remember the model home layout? If your furniture is older or you have already moved it to your new house, you can rent furniture to stage the space. The best rooms to stage are the living room, master bedroom, and the kitchen. Remember, staging is different than interior design. We can help connect you with a stager if you need one.
Step Four: Repairs
If there are any repairs that you have been procrastinating on, now is the time to get them done. The door that doesn’t close correctly, the hole in the wall from the kids playing in the house, the beat-up paint, etc. Look, we get it. Time gets away from us all, and these small jobs always get put on the back burner. Now is the time to get these projects done. It may be worth it to hire a handyman to knock it all out for you at once. Chances are, you will wonder why you waited so long after the repairs are complete.
Step Five: Pre-listing Home Inspection
The last step you need to complete before putting your home on the market is having a pre-listing home inspection done. This is not mandatory, but we do advise it. The benefit of this is that it allows you to repair items your way and on your time and budget. Uncovering issues you may not be aware of will help to make sure your home is in tip-top condition. The goal is to not have any issues show up on the buyer’s inspection report, potentially costing you in negotiations.
Pricing & Marketing
Pricing Your Home
Pricing your home may be one of the most important tasks your Baton Rouge real estate agent will help you with. When determining the listing price of your house your agent will run a CMA (Comparative Market Analysis). They will sit down with you and show you how your home compares to the houses that have sold, the ones that are pending, and active listings. Using this information, you will discuss your pricing strategy.
Lots of people want to start high so they have room to negotiate. For the most part, this is not a good strategy. You will miss potential buyers by pricing yourself out of the market. When pricing your home, you always want to be ahead of the market. The worst place for you to find yourself is chasing the market. This is one reason we consider the Active and Pending sales when working on pricing your home.
Marketing Your Home
A strong marketing plan is vital for the success of selling your home. All marketing is not created equal. It is essential to identify your home’s next owner and to create marketing materials and ads that speak to them.
The very first showing of your home will be on the internet. Professional photography is not a luxury anymore; it is required and expected by potential buyers. At Town & Parish Realty, all of our listings get professional photography as part of our marketing plan. Many of the different shots will be used in marketing, depending on who we are targeting.
In addition to putting your home in our local MLS (Multiple Listing Service), we will make sure your home can be found in multiple places on the internet. Our marketing will be centered around our exclusive Listing Portal, and of course, we will syndicate it to the national portals like Zillow, Realtor, and Redfin.
Our marketing plan will also include marketing to people that may not yet be actively looking for a home, but yours will be perfect for them. Like we said before, knowing your target audience is essential.
Be sure to check out www.SellingTownAndParish.com to see how we market your home.
Showings
Congratulations! Your home is officially on the market! Let the showings begin!
Your home will be showcased in its best light online. When the attention of a potential buyer is caught and they want to see your home in person, they will contact an agent to make an appointment.
When in-person showings happen, we ask that you make sure the beds are made, the counters are clean, etc. Pick up the toys, the pet bowls, pet beds, pets, and kids and take a ride. Give the potential buyers privacy to discuss amongst themselves and with their agent.
Negotiations
You put in the work and they were WOWed at the in-person showing. Now they are sending you an offer! All of your hard work is paying off!
When your agent receives an offer, they will review it for accuracy and reach out to the buyer’s agent if there are any questions. Then, they will reach out to you to review the offer.
When receiving an offer, you have three choices. You can:
- Accept the offer as written
- Counter the terms of the offer you don’t agree with
- Reject the offer
We always encourage you to at least counter the offer and not reject it. Start a dialogue with the buyer. This is why it’s called Negotiation!
Keep in mind that there are lots of negotiation points in a contract. It’s not always just about price.
Closing Day
You accepted an offer, you negotiated through inspections, and the appraisal came back favorable. The Title company has done their work and the day you have worked so hard for is here.
When you go to the closing, be sure to bring a valid ID as the Title company will need to make a copy. In Louisiana, we all close together; it’s quite a celebration! Be sure to bring any spare keys, garage door openers, and security codes. You will want to share these with the buyer.
After all the documents are signed and the buyer’s loan has funded, you will receive a check for the amount of your proceeds. Congratulations! You have successfully SOLD your home!
Closing Day
Closing Day
You accepted an offer, you negotiated through inspections, and the appraisal came back favorable. The Title company has done their work and the day you have worked so hard for is here.
When you go to the closing, be sure to bring a valid ID as the Title company will need to make a copy. In Louisiana, we all close together; it’s quite a celebration! Be sure to bring any spare keys, garage door openers, and security codes. You will want to share these with the buyer.
After all the documents are signed and the buyer’s loan has funded, you will receive a check for the amount of your proceeds. Congratulations! You have successfully SOLD your home!
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