Step 2 to Selling Your Home: Preparing Your House for the Market
You’ve Hired a Realtor. Now What?
Congratulations—you’ve picked your Realtor (us 🎉)! Now it’s time to get your home ready for the market. This stage is where the groundwork gets laid for a smooth sale and strong offers. Let’s walk through what happens next.
1. Handle the Paperwork
Every real estate transaction in New Jersey and Pennsylvania starts with paperwork—and plenty of it. Don’t worry, we’ll guide you through each step.
Since every home and situation is unique, we prepare a customized packet of documents for our sellers. This ensures we’re compliant with MLS requirements and that your listing launches without delays. Once you’ve hired us, we’ll review everything together so you feel confident about what you’re signing.
2. Write Your “Top 10” List
This is one of our favorite parts of preparing your home for sale. We ask you to create a Top 10 list of reasons you love living in your home.
Skip the obvious (like the granite countertops). Instead, focus on the intangibles only you know:
The breathtaking sunsets from your living room
The farmers market every Tuesday down the street
Quiet, friendly neighbors who look out for each other
The nearby hiking trail that’s perfect on weekends
How surprisingly quiet the train is after 10 p.m.
We use this list in our marketing to help buyers emotionally connect with your home.
3. Choose Your MLS Go-Live Date
We’ll need about a week’s notice before your home hits the market. That gives you time to:
Declutter and depersonalize
Fix minor repairs
Deep clean (or schedule professional cleaning)
Your home will be listed in a Coming Soon status until it is ready to go live!
4. Lock Down Your Privacy
Today’s buyers are savvy—they Google sellers. That’s why it’s important to adjust your Facebook and social media privacy settings before listing.
If buyers see posts about your new promotion, moving across the country, or expecting a baby, it could hurt our negotiation leverage.
So before going live:
Change your privacy so only friends see your posts.
Share that you’re selling—but never why.
5. Confirm & Move Forward
Once you’ve:
✔ Completed your paperwork
✔ Sent us your Top 10 list
✔ Scheduled your go-live date
✔ Updated your privacy settings
…you’re ready for the next steps. From there, we’ll guide you through staging, photography, and marketing to showcase your home in the best light.
Bottom Line
Step 2 is all about preparing your home for the market—getting the paperwork in order, highlighting what makes your home special, protecting your privacy, and setting the stage for a strong launch.
💡 Ready to list your South Jersey-Philadelphia Region home?
Call Kathleen Quarterman, Quarterman Realty Group at 609-948-4306 or email info (@) quartermangroup.com to get started.
