So you’ve decided to sell your house. Congratulations!

Whether you’re moving cross-country, into a new subdivision down the road, or you’re working with a builder to construct your dream house, you’re probably anxious to get your current house sold.

If you’re hoping to sell your house fast, there are a few things you’ll want to get done. To speed your selling process along, we’ve compiled this handy home selling checklist!

Take a look at these 7 tasks that’ll put you on the right path toward selling your home fast.

1. Home Selling Checklist: Hire a Great Real Estate Agent

Although it may be tempting to skip out on the fees and commissions associated with hiring a realtor, the whole world of “For Sale By Owner” is actually a bit of a mess. If you’ve got the time and patience to deal with the imminent disasters of self-selling your home, go for it! If you’re hoping to sell your home fast, however–hire an agent.

Real estate agents take away a commission from the sale of your home. This is repayment for all the work they do to ensure your house gets sold and that things run as smoothly as possible.

If you’re looking to sell your home fast, hire an agent. They’ll list the home for you, advertise, negotiate, and deal with loads of other messy areas of the real estate market you just don’t have the time for.

Plus, a good realtor will be able to offer great advice as to what else needs to be done in order to get your home in tip-top shape to sell fast.

2. Start on the Outside

It’s no secret that, for most buyers, the outside of your home is the first of the place they’ll see. The outside of your home will serve as the bait to bring hopeful-homeowners inside–so you’d better start on the outside to get things looking enticing.

Boosting your home’s curb appeal can be a really simple, but really impactful process as you try to sell your home.

Power-wash your home’s siding, repaint your front door, plant colorful flowers along the sidewalks. No matter where in the country you live, there’s something special that can be done to boost your home’s curb appeal. (Read more for other content on selling your Charlottesville property!)

Adding small sparks of landscaping and freshening-up to the outside of your home might be exactly the thing you need to make buyers stop and come inside.

3. Declutter & Reorganize

Okay, so you’ve gotten them inside now! You’re well on your way to selling. But wait–what about that mess of papers in the office? The piles of stuff in the mudroom? The clothes spilling out of the closets?

When trying to sell your home, it’s imperative that everything is neat, decluttered, and organized. Although buyers know that, when they buy your house, it’s not going to come along with all your stuff, it can be hard for buyers to feel connected to a space when it’s overrun with a mess of someone else’s belongings.

Decluttering and reorganizing your house before listing it can put your home in the perfect position for potential buyers to look at the neat, tidy house you’ve kept, and imagine it as their own. Consider investing in some shelves or storage tubs and make it happen!

4. Make Small Repairs

You know that leaky faucet you’ve been ignoring for 6 months? The wonky door handle? That weird dent in the bathroom wall? If you’re looking to sell your home quickly, it’s about time you get to fixing the small stuff!

Even though most small issues in your home are ones you can live with, buyers are likely to look at even the smallest problems as red flags. Most buyers won’t want to move in and spend the first several weeks remedying all the problems the previous owners left behind; they’re more likely to move on to the next listing where there’s no such thing as a leaky faucet.

Making small repairs ahead of listing your house also shows pride in ownership. Potential buyers will see your fixed-up home, and they’ll understand that your house has been well-taken-care-of. Sold!

5. Neutralize Your Style

Especially if you’ve lived in your home for a while, you’ve probably made some moves to customize the space. Whether it’s a wacky paint job in the master bathroom or some super-funky kitchen cabinet handles, you’ll probably want to rethink most custom decisions when trying to sell your house quickly.

You should do your best to remove anything from artwork to furniture that might serve as a distraction for potential buyers. When they enter your home, you want buyers to be able to envision their stuff decorating the space.

It’s a great idea to give your walls a fresh coat of paint, and if you choose to, it’s a great idea to go with a neutral pallet. It’s unlikely that most buyers will be turned off by something light and neutral, and it makes it easy for them to repaint as they see fit.

6. Perform a Sniff-Test

You’ve seen the Febreze commercials; have you gone nose-blind? This is an especially important question to ask when preparing your house for sale. If your home smells bad or weird, it’s likely that potential buyers will come in and out and all they’ll remember about your place is, “it’s the one that smelled like dirty dishes and pine cones.”

If you think your house smells fine, then good! But consider having an outsider walk through your home. Since they’re not used to your home’s smells like you are, someone else should be able to walk through the rooms of your house and let you know where they sniff some problem-areas.

If your sniff-test results show some funky smells, it’s probably time for some deep cleaning. Have your carpets and floors cleaned. Consider having your drains professionally cleared. Get your home smelling bright and clean!

7. Sweep, Scrub, & Stage

The last thing you’ll need to do as your real estate agent wraps things up with listing and advertising your home for sale is to make sure the place is spotless and homey.

When it comes to your kitchen and bathrooms, plan to spend an entire day scrubbing and cleaning. Polish every hard surface in your home, from floors to mantles. Everything should be spotless, bright, and gleaming!

If you know your home has begun to feel a little out-of-date, you might consider hiring a professional stager to come in and set your home up to appeal to potential buyers. Just make sure the place is totally clean, and they can handle the rest, from arranging to decorating!

Want More Items for Your Home Selling Checklist?

If you’re hoping to sell your house fast, you’ll want to make sure every last thing is perfectly taken-care-of.

Looking for more items to add to your home selling checklist so you can get your house sold in no time? Check out our page!

Oh, and happy selling!