I’m often asked, what you need to do to prepare your home to go on the market. Other than decluttering, cleaning and all that stuff that every other agent out there is gonna tell you about. There are a couple of things that you can do to save yourself a lot of time throughout a transaction.
Smoke alarms and carbon monoxide monitors are probably the most common. Smoke alarms can not be more than 10 years old. If your home has hardwired alarms, they need to be replaced with hardwired alarms. Every home in Deschutes County needs carbon monoxide monitor upon sale.
Some counties only require if you have a source for carbon monoxide, meaning an attached garage, a wood stove, a propane stove, a gas stove, those types of things. But in Deschutes County every home, which makes it a little easier, we all know, everything in Deschutes County has to have a carbon monoxide monitor.
Why It Should Be Done Prior to Appraisal
Those things can be done prior to an offer and prior to the home inspection and should be done prior to the appraisal. An appraiser is gonna also look for those items and that can cause a delay in your sale. If they are not in place the appraiser will need to come back before the buyer’s loan can close. So by getting your smoke alarms and carbon monoxide monitors up to snuff prior to an offer, you can save yourself a lot of time.
Electrical
Another thing that comes up often in a home inspection and I’ve had it come up occasionally in FHA or VA appraisals. And I think this goes appraiser to appraiser. I don’t know that it’s a VA or FHA guideline, but your breaker box, where your electrical panel is for your home, every breaker should be labeled. So that’s a real easy thing to do, sometimes requires two people. I’m more than willing to come help you, but marking what every one of those breakers go to, whether it’s, you know, lights, kitchen, dryer, what have you.
Septic
Sometimes the seller will choose to have their septic pumped and inspected prior to going on the market and sometimes they choose not to. With winter being kind of harsh around here, I would highly encourage, if nothing else, marking where your septic tank is, if you know where it’s at. It will save hours of digging and that drain septic inspection. Very few buyers do not ask for a septic inspection. Almost every transaction that has a septic tank or septic system will have a septic inspection.
Water
You can do a flow test ahead of time. When I’m representing a buyer, a flow test that’s within three to six months, I’m usually okay with. You can do the state mandated water tests ahead of time. However, they do expire. They are good for a year. Most things aren’t staying on the market for a year, so you’re probably safe there. So you can do all of those things ahead of time to make your transaction go even smoother. For more tips on what to do to help yourself throughout your real estate transaction feel free to reach out to me.
