The start of the home-selling process can be intimidating and overwhelming, but it doesn’t have to be! Whether you’re ready to sell now or are simply considering it, here are a couple of tips you help you come up with a plan and start getting your home looking its best for buyers.

Create your post-sale plan

Rather than start at the beginning of your process, start at your real-estate finish line, then reverse engineer your home-sale planning. Why are you selling your home? Do you need more space for elderly relatives to live with you? Are you downsizing due to job loss or financial reversal? Find out what you want and how much money you need to garner from the sale of your home in order to make it a reality.

Crunch the numbers

One of the most important things you can do now is put together a financial plan for your home sale and subsequent purchase. Talk with a lender to find out how much you’ll need in order to move forward with your buying plans. You need to consider the equity in your current home, closing costs, moving costs, plus the costs of any negotiated home repairs and improvements on your current property.

Invest in smart-home upgrades

For many of us, smart-home updates have been mostly about convenience—an optional nice-to-have feature, but not a necessity. Now, however, smart-home updates like keyless entries, remote-access security cameras, and voice-controlled lighting, temperature, and appliances can offer health benefits as well. The more touch-free your environment, the less exposure you and your loved ones have to illness. This can be an affordable way to update your space for the new normal—and for newly health-conscious buyers.

Consider healthy home updates

Similarly, upgrading your home with whole-house air filtration, water filtration, and green-certified building materials can help your home stand out from the rest. Buyers are also newly conscious of transition spaces like mudrooms with hand-washing stations and dedicated laundry rooms to facilitate more hygienic entrances and exits. Creating these types of value-added updates can truly set your home apart from others in your local market.

Focus on curb appeal

Of course, as with any home sale, curb appeal is one of the best places to focus. It’s also one of the easiest things that homeowners can do themselves. Some low-cost and easy fixes to make include repainting the front door, redecorating the front porch, spending some time in the garden, and replacing the mailbox, house numbers, and other simple elements. This way your home will look refreshed and be ready to welcome buyers.

Declutter and prepack

One of the most important steps in preparing your home to look its best is decluttering. While most real estate agents recommend this step in cleaning and prepping for a showing, it is even more important now since so many people will first see your home online. That means that every extra knickknack or messy countertop will look worse—and will be seen again and again. Use this opportunity to prepack books, personal photos, and other odds and ends for a cleaner and more photo-ready look throughout your home.

Discuss a virtual marketing strategy

Speaking of virtual, no home-sale plan is complete without a virtual marketing strategy. This is not the time for iPhone photos and minimal property descriptions. Make sure that your home is optimized for online viewing with any or all of the following:

• 360° virtual tour
• Video home showing
• Drone video
• Professional photographs
• Thorough property descriptions
• Dedicated property website

Talk to your real estate professional about their plan for virtual tours and open houses. In addition, find out where and how your home will be shown online and what tools are in place to ensure effective marketing.

An effective home-sale strategy is about responding to market realities and buyer preferences. The more you can think through what buyers may be looking for now—health, wellness, and a sense of community—the better able you’ll be to meet their needs and create an appealing space. And by thinking through what you’re looking for now, you can be equipped to plan ahead for the financial and logistical journey of your upcoming home sale.