The First 5 Things You Should Do When You Want To Sell Your House in Santa Cruz

Getting your ducks in a row when selling your Santa Cruz home can be a time-consuming and tiring process. In order to simplify everything as much as possible here are the first 5 things you should do when you want to sell your house in Santa Cruz.

Deep Clean and Declutter

The obvious first step to get your Santa Cruz home ready to sell is to do a lot of deep cleaning and decluttering – scrub away until everything sparkles.

This is the perfect time to get to those projects you may have been putting off. Clean out sink traps, descale the shower, and even move the fridge to get under and around where it normally sits.

Keep in mind that potential Santa Cruz buyers will be viewing everything in your home with a critical eye. Anything they find could be a reason to reduce their offer, or possibly even walk away.

Do remember that decluttering is the next part of the cleaning equation. This means removing unnecessary items and furniture from the home in order to optimize traffic flow and make the available spaces appear as big and appealing as you can. This may mean finding some temporary storage space if you have a lot of belongings.

Closets are prime candidates for decluttering and you should be willing to remove about half of what’s currently sitting in any closets to make things really neat and tidy for showing.

Depersonalize the Space

After you have pared down the number of items in your home and made everything shiny, it’s time to try subtracting yourself from the appearance of the home. Depersonalizing is removing any personal items, keepsakes, or family heirlooms from the home so a buyer can visit and imagine themselves in the space.

If you have left family photos around this can make potential buyers walk into the space and feel like it’s not ready to transfer to a new owner. Even if you’re still currently inhabiting the home it’s a good idea to remove expensive jewelry or clothing. Make the space feel both lived in but welcoming to new visitors when you sell your house in Santa Cruz.

Increase Curb Appeal

The outside of your home gives that all-important first impression. You can help this first impression by cleaning out the gutters and even washing the exterior of your home. Anything to make it clear that everything on the property has been well taken care of and is ready for a new owner to step in and take over is a good idea.

The biggest thing you can do is freshen up any landscaping. Oftentimes all this takes is a few bags of mulch to spread around plants and shrubs to liven up the area.

Go Neutral for Staging

Depending on your wall and ceiling colors, you may need to do some painting and updating.

Any real estate professional worth their salt is going to tell you to consider repainting in neutral tones in order to have the broadest appeal during walkthroughs. You may also consider using staging furniture that is either rented or provided by your real estate agent. These points are also part of allowing the potential buyer to picture what they would do with the space to help you sell your house in Santa Cruz.

Do Your Research and Prepare

One last thing you can do is research similar properties in your area to get an idea of pricing for your home. Understanding what buyers are looking for from homes in your neighborhood will give you a leg up.

It’s also a good idea to give yourself some time to process everything that is going on and deal with the emotions that come with saying goodbye to your home. This is often overlooked but will help you keep a cool head further down the road once offers start coming in and you’re in the negotiating hot seat.