When you put your house on the market, you need every advantage you can get. These ideas on how to sell your house can help you stand out from the competition.

Get a Home Inspection

Every buyer wants to understand what they are purchasing. Buyers are skeptical about promises that can’t be backed up with facts or documentation. Simply putting a home up for sale and listing its attributes may not be enough to attract them. You may have just replaced the roof or made electrical improvements in the house. The inspector’s report will verify these projects were completed correctly.

Hire a home inspector before listing the home. You’ll receive a report to share with interested buyers, providing all the information they want about the components and systems in the home. The inspection report will list any issues that need to be corrected. You can choose to make the repairs before listing, or price your home according to what you have learned from the inspector.

Maximize Curb Appeal to Sell Your House

First impressions matter when you’re trying to sell your house. An issue that seems minor to you can make the buyer assume that the house isn’t well-maintained. Address cosmetic issues. Trim the shrubs and grass. Seal the cracks in the sidewalk. Wash the home’s exterior and clean the windows. A house that is well-kept on the surface suggests to potential buyers that the house was cared for.

Stage the Home

Another great tip for selling your house is to stage it. Staging a home shows what the house looks like when it’s lived in. It’s especially helpful for a home that has already been vacated. An empty home looks and feels cold and impersonal. Professional staging companies will furnish the home to help buyers imagine living there. Remove reminders that someone else has been living there, like pictures of your family.

Sell Your House By Presenting it Positively

Explain why you are selling the house in a positive light. This could be that you’re downsizing because your kids have gone to college, you want to move closer to family, and so on. The buyer will feel better about why it’s on the market. Never suggest that there are things about the house that you don’t like, such as the location or design. Those are personal preferences that might not be true for others. Make it clear that selling makes sense because of your circumstances.

It can be a challenge to sell a house, but the right information and presentation go a long way toward encouraging buyers to make an offer.

Reifsteck Home Inspections offers home inspection services, including pre-listing inspections, to Champaign, Illinois, and the surrounding areas. Before putting your home on the market, contact us to request an appointment.