Facebook
X
Pinterest
Copy Link
So, you’re thinking about selling your home in 2026. The best time to start preparing is right now. Properly preparing your property for sale takes time, and that time passes quickly. The phases of preparation range from decluttering your home and removing many of the clothes you don’t need from your closets, to tackling those repair issues you’ve been ignoring for years. The goal is to make your house the most attractive house on the market in your price range. This 5-part Seller Series – Preparing Your Home For Sale in 2026 – will give you a view of the multi-faceted process of selling your home.
Time is your friend
You cannot control which neighborhood houses will be on the market, or how many buyers will be actively shopping your neighborhood, when your time to list comes around. The trick is to make your house look more attractive than anything else on the market at go time. Starting early gives you plenty of time to identify the projects and find the professionals to help complete those projects. The sooner you start the process, the less stress you create as you get closer to your listing date.
Step One – Let’s Talk Preparation
As your real estate advisor, one of my jobs is to help you prepare your house for sale by identifying the projects that should be done and those that can be done if you choose, all within your budget.
“You never get a second chance to make a first impression.”
That old adage is the basis of my advice to create a great first impression for buyers when they see your home online and in person. That impression starts at the street, works its way up to the front door, and then peaks when they open the front door. Landscaping and tree trimming, pressure washing, painting, repairing front steps and porches, cleaning and staging the inside of the house.
Then we get to look under the hood. I have experienced many inspections over the years as a representative of both buyers and sellers. I know the issues that home inspectors are likely to identify, and which issues are likely to be the subject of negotiations prior to closing a sale.
The items that come up frequently are furnaces, air conditioners, water heaters and roofs. The issues that are often the most surprising are the ones you can’t see. These include: the condition of the sewer line; mold in the attic or crawl space; and crawl space issues like water intrusion, rodents, poor vapor barrier and/or insulation, and radon. Identifying and correcting these types of issues before you list your home for sale will go a long way toward avoiding a difficult post-inspection negotiation.
Let the home inspectors find little items to address, but don’t let them surprise you with major repairs or discoveries that may scare off buyers and prolong the time your house takes to sell.
As you contemplate selling your home, let’s talk about preparing your home for sale and the time it will take to do it right.
