Selling Your Home in 2026? What You Need to Do to Get Ready

For every major life endeavor, preparation is key. Selling your home is no different. So, if you’re thinking of selling your home in the near future, now is the time to get the wheels in motion and set the stage for a quick and lucrative sale. The first steps of this process are arguably the most stressful, so it makes sense to get them over with when you’re not on a tight deadline. 

Here’s how to get ready to sell your home in 2026:

Research Your Neighborhood’s Comps

Step one is doing some research and familiarizing yourself with your local real estate market. Selling a home is very intimidating when you have no idea what to expect in terms of offers, and you have no idea what kind of market you’re getting into. 

The best way to assess the state of your local real estate market is researching the “comps,” or comparable properties in your neighborhood that were recently sold. These are homes with a similar size, age, and layout to your home. Pay special attention to the average selling price for your neighborhood’s comps. This will be the primary criteria realtors use to determine if your house is priced low, high, or just right. You can do this informally on sites like Redfin and Zillow, but if you want a more professional analysis, you can ask a few realtors to run the comps for you. Which leads us to the next step:

Interview Multiple Realtors

The realtor you work with plays a huge role in your experience. You should interview multiple local realtors to find someone you can truly trust. So, how do you find the right realtor for your needs? 

It’s common for people to ask their friends and family for recommendations – and that’s a great place to start. Another great starting point is looking up realtors who have helped their clients sell and/or buy properties similar to yours. When you look at these realtors’ recently closed listings, you should find several properties matching your house’s size, age, and design. When this realtor tells you how they’d price your home or how they plan to sell it, you’ll know their advice is coming from real-world experience. 

Then ask the realtors these questions when you interview them.

Make Minor Repairs Around Your Home

Another key aspect of preparing your home for sale is making it look as pristine as possible. It might not be time to hire a professional cleaning crew just yet, but what you can do is walk through your home and identify any minor problems that can easily be repaired. 

Small issues can add up, leaving a bad taste in a potential buyer’s mouth. People will notice a door that doesn’t close properly, a faucet that leaks, chipped baseboards, etc. So, if you have to spend a little money to fix these things, go for it. While potential buyers won’t necessarily be impressed when they test your doors, shower, sinks, windows, etc., and find that everything is working properly, they won’t write off your home because of it. When many buyers see minor repairs are needed, they think to themselves, ‘If these little things aren’t taken care of, what big things aren’t taken care of?’

Upgrade Your Kitchen or Your Roof?

You look around online for long enough, and you’ll come across countless articles about how important it is to update your kitchen before you sell. There is a valid argument as the kitchen is the heart of the home. 

But an outdated kitchen isn’t necessarily an instant deal-breaker. Depending on the best target market for your home, a kitchen ready for their personal renovations might be more attractive (as they’ll just rip out what you put in) than a new one. The goal is to make a good first impression, and showing potential buyers that your kitchen is well-kept and not in desperate need of an upgrade. 

If you are looking for a major upgrade, often a new roof (if it’s needed) will have a better ROI than a new kitchen – but again, it depends on your home and your ideal buyer. Add this to the questions you should ask realtors in your interview. 

Are you thinking of selling your home in 2026? If so, the Kern Team is happy to share our experience when you’re interviewing. Get in touch and we’ll guide you through this life-changing journey, one step at a time. We’ll also tell you exactly what buyers are looking for in today’s market, so you can do everything in your power to maximize your home’s value before selling.