Creating a Manageable Timeline when Selling

There are several ways to make the selling process easy and relatively stress- free. One way is to create a selling timeline that fits your needs, lifestyle, and capabilities.

Say you’d like to list your home in four weeks and expect it to be on the market for an additional four weeks. That’s an eight-week timeline. How do you create a manageable schedule that works for you? Try these steps:

1. 1. Determine what you need to do to get your home ready for sale.
   2. Assign who will be doing what. For example, if you need to paint, will you hire a contractor? Do it yourself? Make a family day out of it?
   3. Estimate the time it will take to do those tasks. Then add 50% as a buffer. (It’s easy to underestimate time on tasks.)
   4. Look at your current schedule and block out times on your calendar so you can complete those tasks at a comfortable pace. Go through these same steps for other selling activities, such as finding and meeting with a real estate lawyer, having buyers come to see your property, etc.

When you create a manageable — and realistic — schedule, you may find that most of the stress and worry of selling evaporates. A manageable schedule also ensures you won’t miss anything and then have to scramble.