Selling a home quickly leads to more money in your pocket faster. Who doesn’t like the sound of that? In my many years of experience perfecting my real estate investing strategies, I have devised nine steps that you should take immediately after closing that will help you prepare a home for a swift sale. Each home you invest in will have different needs, but following these general guidelines will get you ready to begin marketing the property.
Utilities
Utilities need to be turned on before you begin preparing the home for sale, and so this is the very first step you should take. Utilities include electricity, water, garbage, sewage, etc. These services will vary by market, and so the best way to determine how to turn each of these utilities on is to look at the city’s website or call them.
Maintenance Services
To prepare the home for sale, you want to make sure it is looking it’s best. While you probably won’t hold on to the property for long, especially if you are using our Foreclosure Investing Mastery System, you still need to do basic maintenance. This includes landscaping and things like pool maintenance, depending on the features of the home. The last thing you want is for people to show up to an open house only to find overgrown grass or green pool water. I always recommend checking reviews and getting at least three bids to make sure you are getting the best quality of service for the best price.
Install A Lock Box
A lockbox is needed so that contractors and maintenance workers can access the home without you needing to be there to unlock the door. This also allows real estate agents to show the property when you are not present.
Inspect for Needed Repairs
In a best-case scenario, the properties you buy will need minimal repairs. However, you will want to inspect the home in detail noting any items that need to be repaired or are visually unappealing. While you probably did this during your due diligence phase, you can now walk through the property with a more detailed view to decide which repairs are necessary.
Get Repair Bids
Like with maintenance workers, always get at least three bids and use a reputable contractor. You can find contractors through personal recommendations, or even a google search, although in this case, you will want to make sure and check references and a portfolio of their previous work.
Schedule the Work
The popular saying “time is money” is definitely true in this scenario. Make sure the contractor you use can do the job on a quick timeline so that you can move on with selling the home as soon as possible.
Inspect the Repair Work
Once the work is done, do a detailed walk-through to make sure the jobs were completed to your satisfaction.
Clean the Property
Construction can sometimes leave behind a mess that you will want to have cleaned up before the property is shown to prospective buyers. A clean home shows much better than one with dust all over the place, or cobwebs in the corner. Like with maintenance and construction, make sure you get a few bids for cleaning companies.
Stage the Property
This does not need to be expensive. Staging can be as simple as adding some nice towels in the bathroom and a few accessories in the kitchen. Just enough to make the house feel like a “home” when people walk through.
After the above steps are completed, you can move on to marketing, holding an open house and ultimately selling the property so that you can move on to the next!
You can find more tips for preparing a home for quick sale, and how to become a successful real estate investor, even without using your own credit, in our free Unlimited Funding Program.
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