Selling Your Landed Home? What to Do in the 30 Days Before You List
The first two weeks on the market decide a lot of your final price. Buyers notice a new listing, judge it quickly, and remember it if it sits. Most of what shapes that first impression happens before the listing goes live. Here is the 30-day plan I would walk through with you.
The 30 days at a glance
Week 1: Paperwork and numbers
Week 2: Fix what buyers read as expensive
Week 3: Declutter and set up the house
Week 4: Photos, video and launch
Week 1: Get your paperwork and numbers straight
Before anything cosmetic, know what you will actually walk away with.
Seller's Stamp Duty. Check your purchase date. If you bought on or after 4 July 2025, SSD applies if you sell within 4 years (16%, 12%, 8%, 4%). If you bought between 11 March 2017 and 3 July 2025, it applies within 3 years (12%, 8%, 4%). On a landed home, a few months can be worth hundreds of thousands.
Your loan. Ask your bank for a redemption statement. Check for a lock-in period or prepayment penalty.
Your CPF. The CPF you used, plus accrued interest, goes back into your CPF account when you sell, not into your pocket. Check the figure on the CPF website so your cash number is real.
Your plans. Find the approved building plans and approvals for any past extensions or A&A works. Serious buyers and their lawyers will ask. If something was built without approval, you want to know before a buyer does. (More on this in Drainage Reserves, Road Line Setbacks and Other Nasty Surprises.)
Everyone on the title. If the house is jointly owned, agree on price range and timing now, not when an offer arrives.
Week 2: Fix what buyers read as expensive
Buyers don't price a water stain as a water stain. They price it as a roof problem. Small defects become big discounts in a buyer's head.
Fix, if your house is in good enough shape that buyers will move in, renovate or do A&A works: leaks and water stains, peeling external paint, a broken intercom, a slow gate motor. These buyers are keeping the house, so every defect becomes a discount.
Skip, if your house is in its original condition and likely to be rebuilt: buyers are paying for the land and will demolish the house anyway, so these fixes won't move your price.
Leave: full kitchen or bathroom remodels. Many landed buyers plan to renovate or rebuild to their own taste, so you rarely get that money back.
The rule I use: if it makes a buyer worry about a hidden problem, fix it. If it's only a matter of taste, leave it.
Which fixes are worth it for your house depends on who is most likely to buy it. A family upgrading from a condo looks at a house very differently from someone planning a rebuild. That is something I work out with you at the house.
Week 3: Declutter and set up the house
Buyers need to picture their own life in the house, not yours.
Pack away half of what's on every surface.
Give each room one clear purpose. A spare room full of boxes reads as "too small".
Clear the car porch and tidy the gate. It's the first thing every buyer sees.
Plan viewings: where the family, pets and helper will be, and how to keep the house ready at short notice.
Before every viewing, make the house feel airy and bright: open the curtains, let fresh air through, and switch on the air-conditioning so buyers walk into a cool, comfortable home.
Week 4: Photos, video and launch
Most buyers see your house online before they see it in person, so the listing photos are your first viewing.
Shoot on a bright day with every light on and curtains open.
Include a video walk-through and a floor plan. Landed buyers want to understand the layout before they book a viewing.
Write the story of the house: who it's perfect for, and why.
Decide on your viewing approach: appointments, an open house, or both.
What this plan won't tell you
The 30 days get the house ready. The part that decides your result is different for every house:
The right asking price, and how much room to leave for negotiation
Which buyers are actively looking in your area right now
Whether to sell first or buy first if you're moving to another home (see Condo to Landed: The Five Costs Nobody Budgeted For for how that choice affects your costs)
Pricing off your neighbour's best sale is one of the most common reasons landed homes sit. The right price comes from comparable transactions and the buyers in the market now, and I go through that with you in person, with the numbers.
What I would do for you
Walk through the house with you and give you a prioritised fix list: what to do, what to skip
Pull recent transactions on your street and nearby, and talk you through a realistic price range
Plan the marketing around the buyers most likely to want your house
Map out a timeline that works around your next move
Thinking of selling in the next few months? Send me your address, and I'll tell you what I'd fix and what I'd leave alone.
This page is general information, not financial, tax or legal advice. Check current stamp duty rules with IRAS before you decide on timing.