Seven ways to make your home sale quick and painless

If you see yourself entering the real estate market soon, consider how you can make your property stand out to potential buyers.

Real estate research firm CoreLogic recently reported that Illinois home values grew by 3 percent in the last year.  While this is good news for sellers, it’s worth noting that home values grew by as much as 6.3 percent in neighboring states, and 6.7 percent nationwide.

At the same time, Illinois Realtors reported that the volume of home sales fell 5 percent: 8,151 homes sold in February 2018 versus 8,585 homes sold in February 2017 statewide.

You can stand out from the crowd

With a little effort, you can have a successful selling experience.  Following are seven tips for making your home sale quick and painless.

Start with curb appeal:

  • Clean clan clean. Power wash the deck and walkways, wash widows and wipe cobwebs from the eaves. A little elbow grease can add thousands to your sale price.
  • Make needed repairs. The roof is one of the first things a potential buyer will examine, and the cost of a new roof will come back to you at the time of sale. A dilapidated fence and loose gutters are simple repairs to make; attending to them before you try to sell your home shows potential buyers that the property has been well maintained and treated with TLC.
  • Add some color. Planting flowers and sprucing up the mailbox make a property memorable.

Your North Shore Property Law attorneys have ideas to make sure the deal is completed smoothly after you accept an offer, too:

  • Accommodate the home inspector’s visit and any needed follow-ups
  • Work with your municipality to acquire needed inspections and tax stamps, among various other requirements.
  • Work with your attorney to acquire the documentation needed to that he can clear title issues and draft your closing documents.
  • Move out. The buyer must walk through your empty house prior to signing any closing documents, so move out your belongings and clean up the space. Make sure that it is in the same condition the buyers saw when they committed to the sale. Your failure to do this can stall or cancel your home sale.

Your North Shore Property Law attorney can answer other questions you have about managing a smooth home sale.