Selling a house can be a difficult process for a number of reasons. Not only is it a time-consuming, but it can also be emotionally draining. Moving your personal life out of a space that you continue to live in can be difficult. Complications in the sales process can arise, adding to sleepless nights and the uncertainty of what will happen, and when it will happen. While it’s impossible to guarantee a smooth property sales process, fortunately there are some things you can do to make the whole process easier. Here are our four tips:

1.    Know what you’re getting into, and commit to it

If you’ve been living in a property for a time, it’s not just a property but your home. While you might be excited for what the future holds for you, it may be more difficult to let go than you realise. There’s also the reality of living in boxes and the long nights waiting for offers, or trying to keep the house neat and tidy because there’s an open house tomorrow. If you’re at a point in your life where you’re already quite busy or stressed, ask yourself if you have the mental space to be selling right now.

If you have friends, family or colleagues who have recently sold their properties, don’t be afraid to ask them about their experiences. Most people will be happy to share, and it will help you make an informed decision as to whether or not you’re in a good position to sell right now.

2.    Gather the right team for the job

Now that you’ve committed to the decision to sell, you need to find the best person to drive that process. This starts with a great real estate agent and team. You want people who you can trust to sell your home, and as you’ll be dealing with them a lot, you want to make sure you all work well together. The benefit of a successful real estate agent is also how well connected they are. To sell your property, you’ll likely need lawyers, surveyors, mortgage brokers and more. An experienced agent will likely have recommendations with you if you don’t already have someone in mind. One less thing to think about!

3.    Plan to succeed

You didn’t find an amazing agent and assemble a great team of people to just dump your property on the market and wait. Failing to plan is planning to fail, so make sure you’ve thought the entire process through. Who is your target audience, how will the property be advertised to them? Do you want the sale to go to auction, or are you happy for a private sale? How long are you willing for it to be on the market? How much movement is there on the price, and what’s the pricing strategy overall? If you and your agent agree with each other right from the very start, it will make selling your property less stressful.

4.    Remember to be reasonable

Of course, not all things go to plan. Rules that seemed fine when they were just being written down on paper may need to be reviewed, depending on what happens once your property is on the market. For example, imagine there’s only one interested party and they’re offering just under your ‘hard’ lower price for the house. You might have said ‘and not a cent less’ at the time, but after a month with no other real interest, it’s worth re-evaluating. The same goes for inspections: you may not really want to have people in the property other than during open house days, but it could well be worth your while to be flexible if there’s genuine interest from a buyer and they can’t make the open house.

Selling a property is always going to be a lot of upheaval and waiting, but a little bit of forward thinking and planning can help make it a lot easier. Finding a real estate agent with the right attitude and great connections will smooth over a lot of the bumps, leaving you happier and less stressed.