Things to Do Before Listing Your House

As summer officially comes to a close, many find themselves thinking about apple picking, falling leaves, and pumpkin-flavored everything. At the same time, some are already thinking about next spring when “for sale” signs pop up as often as patio umbrellas.

If you’re one of the thousands of people who are planning to put their home on the market come spring, here are some things you might consider doing well in advance – maybe even as early as this fall.

• If you don’t already have one, create a home maintenance plan. And then commit yourself to completing each item on it.

• Paint the rooms that are looking a little tired or those while freshly painted, feature colors that might now show well in your neighborhood.

• Repair the loose, cracked, leaky and stuck items throughout your home. Sometimes it helps going from room to room taking notes since, over time, we can become so used to the sound of a leaky faucet we don’t even hear it anymore.

• Get a head start on your lawn now. Beautiful spring lawns are made in the fall, so aerate your lawn, reseed any dead or empty patches, and put down a good quality organic fertilizer.

• If your home shows signs of neglect, inside or out, consider having a home inspection. You know your potential buyer will have one, so why not be prepared and deal with any issues now that might be a deal breaker beforehand?

• Meet with a real estate professional to determine your home’s market value. Studies show that homeowners tend to over value their homes by a rather large margin. We know your home is priceless to you, but a fair market price will get buyers interested and put offers on your table much faster than the overpriced home down the street.

Here are Your 1 Plumber, there’s plenty we can to help prepare your home from sale, and probably the best place to start is with a whole-house plumbing inspection. That way we can take a complete inventory of what’s working well and what might need a little pre-sale attention. Selling of buying, count on Your 1 Plumber to help make the experience just as rewarding and hassle-free as possible.