If you’re a homeowner who has reached or is approaching retirement age you may be, like many others, thinking about making some major lifestyle changes. These changes may very likely include selling your home and moving into a smaller house or a retirement community. Whatever the changes and whatever your reasons for making them, the home sale remains to be taken care of, and that can be a stressful process with no small number of challenges. So to help you out, we offer these 5 tips to help Oklahoma City homeowners sell their homes for retirement.
1. Prepare Yourself Emotionally
For most sellers, the first step toward selling a home for retirement involves preparing emotionally for such a big step and life change.
If you’re a Oklahoma City homeowner selling your home for retirement, you have very likely lived in the home for many years and may have raised your family in that home, It’s only natural, then, that you have a strong emotional attachment to the home.
The problem, though, is that emotional attachment can get in the way of your getting the best deal on your home. So you need to do a couple of things.
First, get rid of the emotional baggage and see the sale as a purely business transaction. And (because that first thing is so hard to do) be sure to work closely with an experienced Oklahoma City agent who can guide you through the sale process to a successful outcome. To consult an agent, just call (405) 521-1817.
2. Begin Decluttering Early
Similarly, because most Oklahoma City homeowners selling their homes for retirement have lived in those homes for a long time, they need to begin decluttering early. When people live in a home for many years, they accumulate a lot of stuff. And much (or most) of that stuff needs to go before listing because almost nothing turns off potential buyers like personal clutter filling a home.
If you need to sell quickly, a good decluttering solution is to rent a storage unit. You can then move your cluttering belongings to the unit and then sort through it all later when you have more time.
3. Make Minor Repairs and Work on Curb Appeal
Selling a home for retirement or for any other reason almost always means that you will have to make at least minor repairs and work on curb appeal. And if your hone is an older one, it will almost certainly need repairs and upgrades before it is ready to list and market.
And there’s also curb appeal. Remember that it’s the outside of your home and the lawn and landscaping that create the great first impression that makes buyers want to go inside and see more. You don’t have to go in for full-blown landscaping, but do take care of the basics like mowing and trimming and touching up paint where needed.
4. Get the Most Out of the Sale
Homeowners selling their homes for retirement also need to make sure they do everything it takes to get the most out of the sale. Most of such homeowners will soon be living on a fixed retirement income, so they need to sell for the best price possible in order to retire in style.
The things you should do to ensure you get the most out of the sale include . . .
- Taking care of deferred maintenance
- Enhancing curb appeal
- Getting many professional-quality listing photos
- Marketing effectively
- Negotiating the best price and best deal
- Keeping what you give up in concessions to a minimum
- Selling at the right time
Getting the most out of the sale also requires a thorough knowledge of the local market. So the best course for most sellers is to work closely with an experienced local agent. To discover more about how an agent can assist you, you can call (405) 521-1817.
5. Hire an Experienced Local Agent
As indicated above, this may be the most important of our tips to help Oklahoma City homeowners sell their homes for retirement. And that is to hire an experienced Oklahoma City agent.
A good agent will have a solid understanding of the nuances of the local market, can help you negotiate the best price and best deal possible, and can help you navigate the complex home selling process. An experienced agent will also understand the special challenges facing home sellers of retirement age and so can help you avoid being taken advantage of.
Where to Find a Great Agent
Finding the right agent to meet your specific needs can be a long, labor-intensive process involving much research and many interviews. Or you can do it the easier and more direct way by going to an agency known for top-notch agents and results. So if you’re a Oklahoma City homeowner looking to sell your home for retirement, contact us at (405) 521-1817.