Tips for Preparing Your Home to Sell in Salt Lake City
Thinking about selling your home? Don't start remodeling just yet.
One of the first questions I hear from sellers is:
“What should I do to my house before I put it on the market?”
And my answer is usually:
It depends.
You don't necessarily need a brand-new kitchen, completely remodeled bathrooms or thousands of dollars in upgrades to sell your home.
In fact, one of the biggest mistakes sellers can make is spending money on improvements that don't make sense for their particular home or price range.
I'm Nancy Bergman, a Top Producing Realtor with 15+ years of real estate experience, serving West Jordan, Salt Lake City and the Salt Lake Valley.
Before you spend a dollar getting your home ready to sell, let's talk about what actually makes sense.
Start With the Big Three: Exposure, Condition & Price
When I look at a home that's getting ready to sell, I think about three things:
Exposure
Are we going to get the home in front of the right buyers?
Condition
Does the home show well and are there obvious issues that could turn buyers away?
Price
Is the price realistic for today's market and the competition? These three things work together.
You can have a beautiful home, but if it's overpriced, buyers may move on. You can have a great price, but if the home is cluttered, poorly presented or has obvious maintenance issues, buyers may hesitate. And even a perfectly prepared home won't sell if nobody knows it's available.
The goal is to get the home ready—not make it perfect.
1. Declutter Before You Do Anything Else
This is one of the simplest, and most effective, things you can do. Buyers need to be able to imagine themselves living in your home.That can be difficult when every surface is covered with personal belongings.
Start with:
- Kitchen counters
- Bathroom counters
- Closets
- Entryways
- Shelves
- Garage
- Storage areas
- Kids' rooms
- Laundry rooms
You don't necessarily need to throw everything away. Pack it up. You're moving anyway, so think of this as getting a head start. A less cluttered home can also feel larger and easier to maintain.
2. Depersonalize Without Making Your Home Feel Cold
Family photos, collections and personal items are part of what makes your house your home. But when you're selling, you want buyers to picture their life there.
Consider temporarily storing:
- Excess family photos
- Collections
- Large personal displays
- Political or highly personal décor
- Excess furniture
- Religious items that may be valuable to you or your family
You don't need to strip the personality out of your home. Just make it easier for buyers to imagine themselves living there.
3. Deep Clean
This sounds obvious. But you'd be surprised how much a really clean home can change the way buyers perceive it. Pay particular attention to:
Kitchen:
Appliances, cabinets, countertops, floors and backsplash.
Bathrooms:
Showers, tubs, grout, mirrors, floors and fixtures.
Windows:
Clean windows let in more light and make a home feel brighter.
Floors:
Vacuum, mop and consider professional cleaning if needed.
Baseboards:
These are easy to overlook—and easy for buyers to notice.
And don't forget the areas buyers may open or look inside. Closets and cabinets count too.
4. Don't Forget the Smell
Buyers notice smells immediately. Pet odors, cooking smells, smoke and mustiness can make a stronger impression than you realize. Don't simply try to cover them with air fresheners.
Find the source.
Clean carpets.
Wash fabrics.
Check for moisture.
Clean HVAC filters.
Address pet-related odors.
If there's a persistent smell, figure out why before listing. You want buyers walking through your home thinking:
“This feels good.” Not: “What's that smell?”
5. Make Small Repairs
You don't necessarily need to renovate. But obvious maintenance issues can make buyers wonder:
“What else is wrong with this house?”
Walk through your home and look for things like:
- Dripping faucets
- Loose cabinet handles
- Broken light fixtures
- Damaged doors
- Scuffed walls
- Loose railings
- Burned-out light bulbs
- Broken blinds
- Leaky toilets
- Cracked caulking
- Missing trim
These aren't glamorous projects. But sometimes the little things make a big difference.
6. Touch Up the Paint
You don't always need to repaint the entire house. But if you have bright colors, heavily marked walls or rooms that look tired, a fresh coat of neutral paint can help.
You want buyers focusing on:
The House, not the Paint Color.
If you're unsure whether painting is worth the investment, ask before you spend the money.
7. Look at Your Flooring
Flooring gets a lot of attention from buyers. If your carpet is dirty, professional cleaning may be enough. If flooring is severely damaged, replacing it may make sense. But again:
Don't automatically replace everything.
Sometimes cleaning, repairing or strategically replacing one area is all that's necessary. The right decision depends on your home's condition, price range and competition.
8. Don't Forget the Outside
Your home's first impression starts before buyers walk through the front door. Take a walk around your property and look at it like a buyer.
Front Yard
- Mow the lawn
- Trim overgrown plants
- Remove weeds
- Clean up leaves
- Add simple seasonal touches
Entry
- Clean the front door
- Remove cobwebs
- Make sure exterior lights work
- Replace a worn-out welcome mat if necessary
Backyard
- Clean patios and decks
- Put away toys
- Trim landscaping
- Clean outdoor furniture
- Remove unnecessary clutter
You don't necessarily need expensive landscaping. Clean and maintained usually beats expensive.
9. Make Your Home Feel Bright
Light makes a home feel more welcoming.
Before showings:
- Open blinds and curtains
- Turn on lights
- Replace burned-out bulbs
- Clean windows
- Remove heavy window coverings if appropriate
If a room feels dark, ask yourself: “What can I do to make this feel brighter?”
Sometimes the answer is as simple as opening the blinds.
10. Consider Staging
Staging doesn't necessarily mean putting someone else's furniture throughout your house.
Sometimes it's simply rearranging what you already have.
You may need to:
- Remove oversized furniture
- Rearrange rooms
- Create a clear purpose for unusual spaces
- Remove excess décor
- Make rooms feel larger
The goal is to help buyers understand how the space can be used. If you want to uses a stager, I can recommend one to you.
11. Consider a Pre-Listing Inspection
This isn't right for every seller, but it can be worth discussing. A pre-listing inspection can potentially uncover issues before a buyer does. That gives you an opportunity to decide:
Do we fix it?
Do we disclose it?
Do we sell as-is?
Do we get estimates so we know what we're dealing with?
I can help you determine whether a pre-listing inspection makes sense for your particular situation.
12. Get Estimates Before You Start Spending Money
This is a big one.
If you know your roof is older, your HVAC system is nearing the end of its life or you have a repair you've been putting off, don't guess at the cost.
Get information. Get it inspected. There are roofers and HVAC companies that will give you free quotes.
Depending on the situation, I can help coordinate quotes from contractors so you can make an informed decision.
You don't want to spend $20,000 fixing something if it only adds $10,000 in value.
Sometimes the best decision is to make the repair. Sometimes it's to sell as-is.
Let's look at the numbers first.
13. Don't Over-Improve Your Home
This is where sellers can get into trouble.
You might think:
“If I spend $40,000 remodeling my kitchen, I'll get $40,000—or more—back when I sell.”
Not necessarily.
The return on an improvement depends on the home, neighborhood, buyer expectations and current market.
Before making a major renovation:
Ask yourself:
Will buyers in my price range actually pay more for this? That's a conversation worth having before you start demolition.
14. Think Like a Buyer
Walk through your home as if you've never seen it before.
What do you notice?
What catches your eye?
What would you question?
What looks dated?
What feels crowded?
What would make you hesitate?
You live in your home every day, so it's easy to stop noticing things. A fresh set of eyes can be incredibly helpful.
15. Your Photos Matter More Than You Think
Today's buyers are shopping online before they ever step through your front door. That means your listing photos are incredibly important. A clean, decluttered, well-presented home gives professional photography a much better starting point.
I use professional photography and property-specific marketing because your online presentation is often the buyer's first showing.
Your first showing happens online. Let's make it count.
What I DON'T Want You to Do
Before you start:
❌ Spend thousands of dollars because your neighbor did.
❌ Completely remodel your kitchen without discussing the return.
❌ Assume an online home estimate tells you what your home will sell for.
❌ Make major improvements based on what you personally prefer.
❌ Hide problems and hope buyers won't notice.
❌ Wait until the last minute to start preparing.
And definitely don't assume you have to make your house perfect.
You don't. You need a strategy.
My Pre-Listing Approach
When I work with a seller, I don't just walk through the house and say:
“Looks great. Let's list it!”
We talk about the property.
We talk about your goals.
We look at the competition.
We discuss what buyers are responding to.
And then we determine what actually makes sense to do before going on the market.
My goal is to help you spend your time and money where it matters.
That may mean cleaning and decluttering.
It may mean making a few repairs.
It may mean getting contractor estimates.
It may mean staging.
It may mean a pre-listing inspection.
Or it may mean:
“Don't spend the money. Let's sell it as-is.”
Every home is different.
Ready to Sell? Let's Talk Before You Start Spending Money.
If you're thinking about selling your Salt Lake City, West Jordan, South Jordan, Sandy, Murray or Salt Lake Valley home, let's talk before you start making a list of renovations.
I'll help you look at:
- What your home could realistically sell for
- What buyers are looking for
- What improvements are worth considering
- What probably isn't worth the money
- Your competition
- Your potential net proceeds
- How we can position and market your home
No pressure. No sales pitch.
Just honest advice from someone who has been doing this for more than 15 years.
I'm ready to work. I'm ready to help.
Contact Nancy Bergman
Your West Jordan & Salt Lake Valley Neighborhood Realtor
Salt Lake Home Pros | Homes International
858-617-9449
nancybergmanrealtor@gmail.com