Selling a home involves more than putting a sign in the yard and uploading photos online. The work you do before your home officially hits the market can influence how buyers perceive the property, how much interest it receives, and ultimately how smoothly the transaction goes.
If you’re considering selling a home in Folsom or the Greater Sacramento area, here are five things worth doing before you list.
1. Take Care of the Repairs Buyers Will Notice
You don’t necessarily need to remodel your home before selling it. In many cases, taking care of smaller maintenance items can be more important.
Walk through your home as if you were seeing it for the first time. Look for things such as:
- Dripping faucets
- Loose door handles
- Doors or cabinets that don’t close properly
- Damaged screens
- Burned-out light bulbs
- Cracked or deteriorated caulking
- Touch-up paint that’s needed
- Minor drywall damage
- Leaking irrigation
- Exterior items that need attention
Individually, these may seem insignificant. But when buyers notice several maintenance issues during a showing, they may begin wondering what larger problems they aren’t seeing.
That doesn’t mean every imperfection needs to be repaired. The goal is to identify which items are worth addressing and which ones are better left alone.
Before spending significant money on renovations, it can be helpful to speak with an experienced real estate professional about whether those improvements are likely to matter to buyers in your particular market.
2. Declutter and Make the Home Feel Larger
Buyers aren’t just looking at your belongings — they’re trying to imagine themselves living in the home.
Too much furniture, crowded countertops, packed closets, and excessive décor can make rooms feel smaller and distract buyers from the features of the property.
Before listing, consider removing items you won’t need during the selling process.
Pay particular attention to:
- Kitchen and bathroom countertops
- Closets
- Entryways
- Bookshelves
- Garage storage
- Children’s rooms
- Home offices
- Excess furniture
You don’t need to make your home look empty. You simply want the rooms to feel open, organized, and easy for buyers to understand.
This is also a good time to begin packing things you won’t need before your move. You’ll eventually have to pack them anyway, so getting an early start can make both the showing process and your eventual move easier.
3. Improve Your Curb Appeal
A buyer’s impression of your home begins before they walk through the front door.
In many cases, their first exposure to the property will actually be an exterior photograph online.
Fortunately, improving curb appeal doesn’t always require a major landscaping project.
Simple improvements can include:
- Trimming overgrown shrubs
- Removing weeds
- Cleaning walkways
- Adding fresh mulch where appropriate
- Removing dead plants
- Cleaning windows
- Touching up peeling exterior paint
- Cleaning the front door and entry
- Making sure exterior lighting works
- Keeping lawns and landscaping maintained
In Folsom and the Greater Sacramento area, outdoor spaces can also be an important part of how buyers evaluate a property.
If you have an attractive patio, pool, covered seating area, garden, or landscaped backyard, make sure those areas are clean and presented as usable living spaces.
4. Prepare Your Home for Professional Photography
Most buyers will see your home online before they ever see it in person.
That makes your home’s photography an important part of its initial presentation.
Before professional photos are taken, the home should ideally be cleaned, decluttered, and staged or arranged to photograph well.
That may mean:
- Clearing kitchen counters
- Removing unnecessary bathroom products
- Straightening bedding
- Opening blinds and window coverings
- Removing excess furniture
- Organizing outdoor spaces
- Hiding trash cans and cleaning supplies
- Removing distracting personal items
- Making sure lights and lamps work
Professional photography can showcase the home’s layout, natural light, architectural features, outdoor spaces, and other selling points.
Depending on the property, aerial photography or drone imagery may also help buyers understand the home’s location, lot, surrounding area, or nearby amenities.
The objective isn’t to make the property appear to be something it isn’t. It’s to present the home accurately and attractively so buyers are interested enough to schedule a showing.
5. Develop the Right Pricing Strategy Before You List
Pricing is one of the most important decisions you’ll make when selling your home.
It’s also one of the areas where sellers can easily be influenced by information that doesn’t tell the entire story.
Automated online home estimates can be interesting reference points, but they don’t necessarily account for every factor affecting an individual property.
An effective pricing analysis should consider factors such as:
- Recent comparable sales
- Current competing listings
- Pending sales when information is available
- Neighborhood and location
- Lot characteristics
- Square footage
- Condition and updates
- Floor plan
- Market conditions
- Buyer demand
- Unique property features
Even homes in the same neighborhood can have meaningful differences.
One property may have extensive updating, a premium lot, a pool, additional parking, a different floor plan, or a more desirable location within the neighborhood.
The goal isn’t simply to choose the highest possible asking price.
The goal is to position the property appropriately for the current market while attracting qualified buyers and protecting the seller’s negotiating position.
Bonus: Understand the Costs of Selling Beforehand
Before listing, sellers should also have a general understanding of the expenses that may be associated with the transaction.
Depending on the property and transaction, those expenses could include:
- Real estate brokerage compensation
- Escrow and title-related costs
- Required or negotiated repairs
- Inspections
- Home preparation
- Staging
- Moving expenses
- Property taxes or assessments
- HOA-related charges, when applicable
- Seller concessions negotiated with a buyer
Every transaction is different, so it’s useful to estimate potential expenses before the home goes on the market.
That way, you can evaluate offers based on the estimated net proceeds, rather than looking only at the purchase price.
Thinking About Selling a Home in the Greater Sacramento Region?
Preparing your home properly before it reaches the market can help you avoid unnecessary surprises and put you in a stronger position when buyers begin walking through the door.
I’ve worked in California real estate for decades and understand that every property and every seller’s situation is different. A home that needs extensive preparation requires a very different strategy from one that’s already ready for the market.
If you’re considering selling in Folsom, El Dorado Hills, or the Greater Sacramento area, Leonardi Real Estate can help you evaluate your home’s current condition, review comparable sales, discuss potential improvements, and develop a marketing and pricing strategy based on your specific property.
Leonardi Real Estate®
John Leonardi, Broker
DRE# 01737387
This article is provided for general informational purposes only. Real estate transactions and individual circumstances vary. Information contained in this article should not be considered legal, tax, financial, construction, or other professional advice. Property owners should consult the appropriate qualified professionals regarding their individual circumstances.
