Selling a home long distance

[1MegMeg]

Has anyone sold a home long distance before?

I moved ~2 hours away for a new job and am getting reading to put my house on the market. I've done the big cluttering/goodwill purge and the house will be cleaned very well inside before it goes on the market. I've moved most of my stuff and some furniture to my new location, so that helped a lot with appearing less cluttered and more spacious. However there is still some furniture and stuff in the house, so it's not completely empty.

There are a few exterior repairs that need to be taken care of (will be handled by a contractor and showuld be done withina month), then it will be up on the market.

I already have my realtor picked out, she comes highly recommended from friends and family - they have first hand positive experience with her.

I guess I am just wondering what am I missing? No one is living in the home, so after it is cleaned it will stay cleaned. However, are there things I am not thinking about that would require me to go back to the house every so often/few weeks after it's on the market? Or once it goes up do I just sit back and wait? :p My realtor did say that whenever she shows the house she will come over early, turn on the lights, etc.

Thank you all very much for your help! :)

[Sandie78]

We sold our home long distance. We moved 9 hours away so there was no going back. The only thing I would worry about is the lawn.

[1MegMeg]

Sandi, thank you for the insight! I forgot to mention I haven't cancelled our lawning upkeep/mowing service yet. The grass grows like crazy down here and there's no way I can't have it mowed on a regular basis, so that's going to be taken care of too.

How long was your house on the market after you moved? Did you just give it a good final cleaning before you left and then left everything else up to the realtor?

[mamax2]

I sold a rental property long distance, but it was w/a property manager, so there wasn't much for us to handle.

I sold another house semi-long-distance; we were kind of back and forth.

The only other thing I would suggest is if you have a friend or relative (or perhaps even the Realtor) who would be willing to go through the house AFTER it's shown. It's a good idea to have someone make sure a faucet hasn't been left on, toilet overflown (this actually happened to a Realtor I know who was selling a house for long-distance clients :eek: ), lights back off, doors/windows locked, etc. Agents should be responsible for that stuff, but sometimes they miss something or there might be multiple people in the family going in different directions in the house.

[Sandie78]

Sandi, thank you for the insight! I forgot to mention I haven't cancelled our lawning upkeep/mowing service yet. The grass grows like crazy down here and there's no way I can't have it mowed on a regular basis, so that's going to be taken care of too.

How long was your house on the market after you moved? Did you just give it a good final cleaning before you left and then left everything else up to the realtor?

We put it on the market at the beginning of April, moved two weeks later, had an offer mid-may and closed at the end of July. (We were also in FL, like you are.)

We did give it a good final cleaning then just packed it all up and left.