Selling · December 23, 2025 · 4 min read

Your checklist to get ready to sell

Most of what raises your sale price happens weeks before the sign goes in the yard.

Sellers usually call us the week they want to list. That's fine, but the ones who call a month early almost always net more. The gap isn't luck, it's preparation, and nearly all of it is work you can do yourself.

Start with the walk-through you've stopped seeing

Walk your home as if you were a buyer touring it for the first time. The sticking door, the porch rail that wobbles, the hallway scuff. You've filtered them out. Buyers haven't, and each one quietly becomes an inspection line item in their head.

Handle the small repairs first

Caulk, paint touch-ups, cabinet hardware, burnt-out bulbs, running toilets. None of it is glamorous and all of it changes how a home reads. A buyer who counts five small defects starts assuming there are fifty they can't see.

Get your paperwork in one place

Roof age and warranty, HVAC service records, flood policy and elevation certificate, permits for any additions, HOA documents. In Louisiana the flood and elevation paperwork in particular can hold up a closing if it surfaces late.

Then, and only then, talk about price

A home that shows well supports a stronger number and a shorter time on market. We'll bring a comparative market analysis built on real closings in your neighborhood and tell you what the market will actually bear, including when that's less than you hoped.

Leila Perez

Broker · REALTOR® MRP · Leila Perez Realty, Slidell