How We Sold Our Home in One Week

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We are finally almost completely unpacked from the big move so I wanted to share with you how we sold our home in one week.

Imagine our surprise when our realtor told us we had sold our home in one week! Just imagine! The hard work began months earlier!

The process of selling a home is all consuming! Because we really wanted to be able to somewhat control the timing of our move, I did tons of research on how to sell a house. I shared this post called The Seller’s Complete Checklist. We took our own advice and got to work with the suggestions on that list and here is what we did.

Clean

Decluttering and cleaning were the main things we did to help our house ‘show’ well.

We did a complete ceiling to floor cleaning process throughout the entire house including windows, doors, and wood framework around windows and doors. Our focus was more on the house itself rather than our furniture and furnishings although we cleaned those too. You can grab our free printable cleaning list here.

Keep It Clean

Once the ceiling to floor cleaning was done, I used my Speed Cleaning Tray to keep things clean all the time. Keeping your house clean during the time it is on the market can be exhausting. My Speed Cleaning Tray helped. Yes, we had an offer in the first week but you never know how the pending process is going to turn out so it is best to stay ready.

Declutter

We got rid of excess furniture which made a room seem smaller. A big part of staging your home will be making the rooms seem rather empty. Potential buyers need to be able to envision their own possessions in your rooms. We packed home decor items first leaving only enough to stage each room. 

Kitchen Decluttering is Key

 

We cleared the counters in the kitchen. Do not leave anything but the bare essentials on the counters so your potential buyer can envision their next Thanksgiving meal being prepared right there!

Update Appliances

We replaced our stove with an updated stainless steel five burner one which was simply fabulous! Our buyer told us at closing that they fell in love with the kitchen which was really nice to hear. 

Outdoor Living

Once the inside was done, we focused our attention on the outside.

Deck

Paint and Stain Refresh

We gave our deck a makeover by painting the furniture for a nice refresh.

The deck was stained which made it look almost new again. See our before and after deck makeover here.

Decor

I even color coordinated the deck decor including our table setting, flowers and flower pots. Minimal amounts of flowers pots also helped to not overcrowd the space allowing potential buyers to envision their own outdoor decor and family gatherings.

The Solar Lamp in the center of our table is one of our monthly Thrift Upcycle projects we are still enjoying, you can find all the details here.

Front Porch 

Curb appeal is a huge factor when selling your home. We focused a lot of attention on curb appeal with our front porch makeover and removal of dead trees.

Our biggest project was easily the makeover we gave to our front porch to create curb appeal. It included pressure washing, painting and even replacing the front steps.

Again, the plants I selected were color coordinated with my red, white and blue theme. Find all of our porch makeover project details here. 

Repair

Our front steps needed to be replaced and we did that ourselves prior to listing the house. It was kind of a fun to work on that project with my hubby. We saved the old weathered wood from those 17 year old steps. We plan to build an outdoor table with them as a memory of our old home.

Remove Dead Trees

We cut down eleven, yes ELEVEN dead trees in our front and back yards. It was hurtful to see all of the dead trees once spring arrived but dead trees hurt the curb appeal of a home so we got quotes and hired a good tree company. 

List At Peek Time

We listed in the spring which is considered to be the best time of year to sell a home. We waited until we finished all of our projects and were completely ready for people to view our home.

Choose A Good Realtor

Our realtor was recommended to us by a trusted friend. Selecting a realtor can be difficult if you don’t already know someone in the business. Get recommendations from trusted friends and relatives. Narrow down your possible choices to just a couple or a few and then research their track record. That information is available on their website. It will show you how many homes they have sold recently and if they have won awards for selling.

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To recap, these are the things we did and we know they work! We did all of these things before we listed our home for sale and it is a good thing since our buyer saw it the very first week it was on the market! 

• Clean
• Declutter
• Replace old outdated appliances if necessary
• Repair anything in need such as our front steps
• Paint or stain porch and deck area
• Remove dead trees
• Create curb appeal with plants and decor 
• Hire the right realtor 
• List at peek time

From start to finish, the entire process of projects took us about three months so I do suggest you plan ahead. The very first person who looked at our home put in a full price offer! That was a shock and a joy. It let us know that our hard work paid off! We are now in the new home wondering if we’ll ever be done unpacking boxes! 

Congratulations on the decision to sell your home! Great things are in store for you! You are about to move so be sure to See our Most Useful Packing & Moving Tips: What Worked And What Didn’t

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