After getting a job offer in a new state, you need to sell your house fast. You can’t afford to be too worried about real estate deals while settling in at a new job, and you certainly can’t afford to pay two mortgages at once. If you’re lucky, your new employer offers a generous relocation package with plenty of funds to prepare your home for sale. But what if you need to move quickly and don’t have a lot to spend doing it?
There’s a ton to do when selling a home, but that’s no reason to panic. With these tips, you can prepare your home to sell in as little as a week and save money doing it.
Step One: Banish Clutter
Decluttering will make the next steps a lot easier. As soon as you know you’re moving, start packing up books, media, décor, and all the other non-essential items cluttering up your home. Then, look for cheap storage solutions to get it all out of the house. Self-storage units can be cheap if you only rent as much space as you need and skip the climate control. Alternatively, use a portable storage container that you fill yourself to save money on moving costs.
Step Two: Hone Your Handyman Skills
From leaky faucets to loose doorknobs, most homes accumulate a few minor problems over the years.Luckily, many of them are an easy DIY fix — perfect for the budget-conscious homeowner. Simple repairs like fixing dripping faucets, slow drains, crumbling grout, and broken screens are easy to do yourself using online instructions, but call a pro before tinkering with electrical wiring or complicated plumbing projects.
Step Three: Brighten Up The Landscape
It’s not only what’s on the inside that counts. Appearances matter, which is why it’s important to pay attention to how your house looks from the street. Do you have great curb appeal or does your house look drab? If your landscape needs some sprucing up, spend an afternoon mowing the lawn, edging and weeding garden beds, and pressure washing the driveway. If you don’t own the tools you need, save money by renting instead of buying. Home Depot lets customers rent tools for as little as four hours so you only pay for as much time as you need.
Step Four: Stage for Less
Do you ever wonder why your house doesn’t look like the homes you see on HGTV? It’s all in the staging. By banishing clutter and personal touches, minimizing furniture, and staging appealing vignettes, staging creates homes that appeal to buyers’ senses. You don’t have to completely overhaul your home to make an impact with staging, either. Little touches like coordinated place settings,accent pillows, and greenery add a lot of charm at a low price, especially when you know where to look. Stores like Target are a goldmine for discount home décor, and according to Rakuten’s 17 tips for saving at Target, and shoppers who scour the weekly add and search online for promo codes can save big on already-affordable items.
Step Five: Be a Neat Freak
Your hard work and savvy shopping paid off, and your home looks the best it has in years. Now, the real challenge begins. Keeping your house spotless isn’t easy while you’re living init, but the right tools make daily cleaning a breeze. If you look online before you shop, you can find coupons for cleaning tools like Swiffer or bulk packages of microfiber cloths on Amazon.
When you need to sell your home quickly, don’t throw your hands up and sell as-is. Instead, focus on little changes that make a big impact. With a few touches inside and out, you can drastically improve your home’s market appeal and get buyers in the door faster. The best part? You don’t have to spend a ton of money doing it!
Credit to – Suzie Wilson | Happier Home
