5 Things to Do to Sell Your House
If you’re like many people, you want to sell your home as quickly as possible – and at the best possible price. That means you’ll have a little homework to do before you actually list your home with an Aspen REALTOR®.

5 Things to Do to Sell Your Home (in Aspen or Anywhere Else)

Before you list your home for sale, you’ll have to tackle a handful of tasks:

  1. Clean up your landscaping
  2. Make repairs
  3. Depersonalize and declutter
  4. Make REALTOR-suggested improvements
  5. Style and stage

Here’s a closer look at each.

#1. Clean Up Your Landscaping

Prospective buyers start forming a first impression of your home when they pull up at the curb, and you need that first impression to be a good one. That means cleaning up your landscaping so that the exterior of your home looks warm, welcoming and inviting.
Think about:

  • Power washing your driveway and sidewalk
  • Having a professional repaint the exterior of your home
  • Investing in new house numbers
  • Buying and installing a new mailbox
  • Adding splashes of color to your yard, either through native plants in the ground or through potted plants that you can move around

#2. Make Repairs

Leaky faucets, broken light switch plates and other minor issues need to be fixed before you put your house on the market. Your REALTOR can walk through your home with you to create a list of repairs you should tackle before you list your house – but if there’s anything you can think of off the top of your head, go ahead and address it now.
Pro Tip: If your home needs major repairs, talk to your REALTOR before you make any significant investments. You may not need to make them at all – and in the worst-case scenario, making major repairs could eat into your profits from your home’s sale.
Related: 7 kitchen staging secrets

5 Things to Do to Sell Your House - Declutter

#3. Depersonalize and Declutter

Take down decor and other items that make your house feel like your home. You want to show buyers that this is a place they can make their own, so you don’t want to distract them with family photos and other personal items. While you’re depersonalizing, take down religious, political or other types of decor that could be considered controversial; you want buyers to think about how well they’ll fit into your home, not about your personal beliefs or preferences.
You should also remove anything that makes your home appear cluttered. That may mean cutting down on some furniture (even if you have to put it in storage for a few months).

#4. Make REALTOR-Suggested Improvements

If your real estate agent tells you to make improvements (not repairs, which are addressed above), such as modernizing light fixtures and faucets, it’s a good idea to do so. Your agent knows what buyers are looking for right now, and if you can check off as many boxes as possible on a prospective buyer’s “must-have” list, you should.
Related: How to stage a primary bedroom to sell your house fast

#5. Style and Stage

When you’ve made all the repairs and upgrades you’re going to make, and when your home is decluttered and depersonalized, it’s time to stage it to sell. Staging is simply the act of making your home as appealing as possible to prospective buyers, and a few well-placed decorative items, a little furniture rearrangement and some TLC can go a long way. Your REALTOR can give you home staging tips, but if you’re not up for staging your house yourself, you can hire a professional stager to do it for you. (Your agent will know the best home stagers in the area, too, so don’t be afraid to ask.)

Are You Selling or Buying a Home in Aspen?

If you’re ready to sell your home in Aspen, Woody Creek, Basalt, Carbondale or Snowmass, we may be able to help you.
Get in touch with us right now to find out how much your home is worth – and discover how we’ll be able to help you sell it quickly and for top dollar.
If you’re also looking for a home for sale in Aspen or a nearby community, check out our listings by price: