So you want to sell your home and you want to sell it fast. Below are 5 quick and easy steps you can take to help sell your home faster (without breaking the bank).

1. Give your front lawn a facelift.

In the world of real estate, first impressions are everything. Make sure that when a potential buyer drives up to see your home-for-sale that the lawn is in tip-top-shape and the recycling bins are put away. Depending on where you live and the time of year will determine the best “front door” plants, but some quick suggestions that always create a welcoming vibe are ferns, hydrangeas and succulents. Other quick and cheap fixes to spruce up your front porch are an all-seasons wreath and a new-and-improved address plate.

2. Stage your home like a hotel room.

Imagine walking into a hotel room and seeing a photo of someone else’s husband on the mini fridge, a mickey-mouse booster stool in the bathroom and a closet filled with someone else’s clothes. It would be unsettling (and creepy), am I right? When staging your home, think about how the home-buyer will feel when they walk through the door — Will they feel like they are home or in someone else’s home? Staging is a critical tool to helping your home sell faster. 3 quick and easy tips you can do right now:

• Clear out your closet
• Depersonalize the walls by taking down wedding photos
• Sanitize, sanitize, sanitize (don’t forget the ceiling fan)

3. Get rid of the pets!

We get it. You have the cutest dog/cat on this planet. Still, seeing a kitty litter box or a blanket of dog hair on the couch while walking through an open house is a sure way to get potential buyers to leave willingly (or unwillingly if they have allergies). When you know the house is going to be shown, ask the neighbor to watch Spike or see if your sister can take care of Pickles — you’ve got a house to sell!

4. Take “click-worthy” photos for your listing.

Admit it — at some point in your adult life you chose a specific bottle of wine at the grocery store out of hundreds based off of one thing: it had a pretty label. The same rules apply for photos of house listings on the internet. When a homebuyer starts their search, they will be bombarded by hundreds (and hundreds) of low-quality photos. Stand out from the rest and invest in high-quality photos that will get your home noticed. Don’t have an eye for photography? This is where #5 comes in.

5. Find a great realtor who has all the tricks!

The quickest way to sell your home is to find a great realtor! Need a photographer? The realtor or the brokerage they work for should be able to offer suggestions on who can come by and take high-quality photos of your home for you. Confused about staging the living room? A great realtor will have done so many stagings that they have tips you can’t even find on Pinterest. Forgot to buy more toilet paper for the open house? Yes — the best realtors will come prepared with everything from toilet paper to WD-40 for the locks that won’t open (you never know)!

For more tips on how to sell your home faster, contact me today!