5-Point Checklist to Follow Before Listing Your Home

5-Point Checklist to Follow Before Listing Your Home

  • The Dougherty Group
  • 11/16/22

Listing a home on the market is exciting, and closing a deal takes a lot of work. Before a home is listed, sellers must prepare their property in advance and take the necessary steps to ensure it is presented to potential buyers in its best possible form. To make their property stand out and spark the most interest, sellers should take several steps before listing their home.

Working within some of the most competitive neighborhoods in the Morris County real estate market, including Morristown real estate and Morris Plains real estate, the Dougherty Group has prepared many properties for listing. They provide buyers with extensive local knowledge and expertise. With a history of successful transactions on a wide variety of Morris County homes for sale, the Dougherty Group knows what it takes to properly list a home and close a deal on a property in the Morris County real estate market.

Before you officially list your home, check out this five-point checklist by The Dougherty Group to ensure you’re well-prepared to show your property —  you’ll be closing the deal in no time.

Make necessary repairs

Photo courtesy of Shutterstock

Once your home is listed on the market, you want to ensure it is in tip-top shape. Take the time to walk around your property and take inventory of anything that needs to be repaired. If there is a leaky faucet, call a plumber. If there are missing patches on the lawn, call a landscaper. Whatever needs a little maintenance, now is your chance to get the job done. It’s never too early to begin making necessary repairs to your property. As soon as you decide to sell your home, you can start getting ready.

Declutter the space

We tend to gather many possessions as the years go by, and they often take up more space in our homes than we would like. You want your home to appear airy and open when potential buyers see it, and this means you don’t want unneeded bulky furniture and excessive personal items lying around. Start packing away some of your belongings that you don’t need immediate access to and keep them stored in a local storage unit to declutter your home.

Plan a deep-cleaning

Potential buyers will look through every nook and cranny when they enter your home, so it’s a good idea to plan a deep cleaning before it is listed. Contact a local cleaning service to perform a deep scrub on the home's bathrooms, kitchen appliances, and all main rooms. When you get to the home’s exterior, have it power-washed and weed the gardens. A polished look gives off the best vibe, communicating the message to potential buyers that the property is well taken care of.

Stage the property


Staging a property involves adjusting its aesthetic to present it to potential buyers more stylishly and functionally. You want to captivate potential buyers with how warm and chic your home is so they can imagine themselves living it from the moment they enter the door. After all, you only get one chance to make a first impression. Changes can be as minor as adding a few colorful throw pillows to the couch to as significant as renting all new furniture. To receive guidance on the decor of their property, many sellers opt to work with a professional staging company for design advice. The home staging process allows homeowners to bring their properties to life and transform their living spaces.

Find a real estate agent

Finding a local real estate agent to work with is one of the best steps you can take before listing your home. Real estate agents offer precious advice before your home even hits the market, such as what features you should highlight and ways to make it stand out. When pricing your home, they perform a comparative market analysis using relevant neighborhood data to ensure they set a price high enough to yield you a hefty profit but still low enough to spark substantial buyer interest. They possess professional tools to market your property and maximize its exposure using their resources and networks. By finding a local real estate agent to work with before listing your home, you’ll be giving yourself the best opportunity to sell your home for top dollar quickly.

Before listing your home for sale in your local real estate market, follow this five-point checklist. After making all necessary repairs, decluttering your space, planning a deep cleaning, staging the property, and finding a real estate agent to work with, your home will officially be ready for listing with the best odds for success. By taking all the steps listed, your home will be presented to buyers in pristine condition, and you’ll have all the tools you need to generate quality offers from interested buyers in no time.

If you’re preparing to list your home in the Morris County real estate market and want a qualified real estate agent to assist you, contact The Dougherty Group today. The team has years of experience handling transactions involving Morris County homes for sale in some of its most competitive neighborhoods, including the Morristown real estate and Morris Plains real estate markets.

The Dougherty Group has worked on an extensive array of properties and knows how to prepare Morris County homes for sale to be listed and attract potential buyers to the property. When working with The Dougherty Group, you have the opportunity to enroll in their Compass Concierge program, where the team fronts you for the cost of home improvement services (including services like staging, flooring, and painting) without interest. It’s genuinely the best way to prepare your home for sale.

For more information, contact The Dougherty Group by phone at (973) 309-6178 or (862) 812-0962. You also can send them an email at [email protected] or [email protected] or visit the contact form on their website.

*Header photo courtesy of Shutterstock



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