As I'm seeing a rise in inventory in our market as we head into spring, there are a few things to consider when it comes to preparing your home to list, specifically the timeline to do so. If you partner with a great agent (contact me to connect!), they will start investigating all the things that need to occur upfront, and can provide a detailed listing timeline, so you know what to expect ahead of time. Here are a few things to consider if you're planning to list your home for sale this season.

👉 Declutter and repair (1 to 4 weeks): The goal when listing your home for sale is to appeal to as many buyer's as possible. Therefore, in order to ensure your home meets the criteria they're looking for, it is important that they can see themselves living there. To make this possible, it is crucial that all clutter is removed, including personal effects, and that any necessary repairs are done upfront. Fix that leaky faucet, patch that hole in the wall, paint that office, and ensure all light bulbs are operating, just to name a few. While you can do these repairs yourself, you may need to hire out a trade service, which has a bit of lead time to schedule right due to demand. You can also go as far as getting a general inspection (more on that here) prior to listing, to ensure any major repairs are either completed or communicated to the buyer's prior to purchasing. This helps ensure the escrow process is a smooth one, and that your buyer doesn't back out for inspection reasons. For our clients, we do an initial walk through, and provide recommendations for improvements, and offer referrals to trade service vendors so that they can easily get everything handled prior to listing.

👉 Staging (1 to 3 weeks): After your home has been cleaned of all clutter, and all repairs have been done, I highly recommend getting your home staged. The average investment for staging is 1% of the sale price, and about 75% of sellers saw an ROI of 5% to 15% over asking price, according to data from the Real Estate Staging Association (RESA). Also, you're often on the market for less time, allowing you to have a seamless transaction, so you can move on to your next chapter in life with ease. For our clients, we provide recommendations to various staging companies, we meet the stagers at the property, provide a mood board to ensure the design matches the style of the home, and then schedule and coordinate all logistics. The lead time for staging from the initial consult to the install day is anywhere between 10 days and 3 weeks.

👉 Pricing Strategy (3 to 7 days): I think this is the most important step when listing your home for sale. In our market, it is clear that if a home doesn't go pending within 30 days, it is priced too high for what the product is (type of home, bed/bath count, location, square footage, amenities). I always recommend going in at market rate or slightly below, as this offers you the potential opportunity to get activity from multiple buyers, which allows you options and leverage. When you list too high, and the home sits on the market, you are not only less likely to get your asking price, but the terms on the offer might be less than ideal, for example, a contingent offer (they need to sell before buying). For our clients, we offer a custom market analysis that showcases what we think the price should be, and then we also survey other top agents in our market to see what they think as well. We then present these options to our seller's so they can make the most educated decision that works best for them.

👉 Marketing (1 to 2 weeks): Once the home is ready to show, and you've agreed upon pricing, it is now time to develop a strategic marketing plan that will ensure you get the most eyes on your property. For our clients, this looks like an exclusive broker launch to the top agents in the area, beautiful mailers to the surrounding neighborhood, a robust social media content plan, and full service open house events. This ensures we capture any and all buyer's looking to purchase in your area.

All in all, you can see that the overall listing timeline can range anywhere from 3 to 10 weeks, so it is important to plan accordingly, especially since there is also life happening in addition to getting your home ready to sell. If you're looking to better understand what the process could look like for your home, let’s connect, and I'd be happy to talk through what your goals are, and from there, offer a complimentary listing timeline proposal.