Any hardship welcomes a thousand advantages as long as you're willing to look on the upside. When it comes to selling your home, current quarantine restrictions and stay-at-home orders have given most people a lot of free time on their hands.

If you're thinking of selling, you'll have plenty of time to get your home market-ready - from staging the interior to perfection to creating professional-quality virtual tours - without taking any time off work. Stop twiddling your thumbs during quarantine and get to work on your selling endeavours!

Plenty of time to increase your curb appeal and declutter your home

One upside to COVID-19? Plenty of time on your hands to prep your home for the market! While there are many things that are completely out of your control as a home seller, the condition of your property isn't one. Since a buyer's first impression of your home is of the condition of your exterior, 94% of real estate agents recommend their clients improve their home's curb appeal before listing.

If you're stuck at home quarantining, you'll have plenty of time on your hands to mow your lawn, paint the exterior doors, plant some flowers, and make sure all potential buyers' first impression of your home is spectacular. Remember, in lieu of in-person showings, many buyers will be driving by your property, so curb appeal is a must!

Don't slack on decluttering and cleaning the interior either just because in-person showings are becoming rarer these days. Virtual tours are advancing to the extent that you won't simply be able to hide the messier areas of your home to potential buyers. Real estate agents claim that reducing clutter can add over $2,500 to your home's value. If you find yourself bored and stir crazy during this quarantine era, get to work organizing your home - taking extra time for the living room, master bedroom, and kitchen, as those will be most important to potential buyers.

Selling from the comfort of home

While sellers can no longer impress with the smell of freshly baked cookies, virtual open houses done right can still impart the same welcoming spirit. In fact, 73% of real estate agents have seen an increase in requests for virtual showings since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, so you'd be smart to include one in your listing.

With the help of your real estate agent, creating virtual tours that give potential buyers the full experience of your home- from the views on the deck to the extra storage spaces in the basement - is easy. And best of all? You can create all these tours from the comfort of home while still wearing your slippers and pajamas.

With tips from your agent and editing services from remote photographers, you can easily create listing photos and virtual tours that rival the professionals. Make sure your property is properly cleaned, staged, and decluttered prior to creating these virtual tours. And don't worry - all you need is a Smartphone, so there's no need to fret if you don't have a high-tech camera at your disposal.

While photos and virtual tours are helpful to potential buyers, real estate agents agree that livestreamed virtual open houses are the best digital alternative to a traditional open house. Not only do these tours give the audience the same views and angles as the pre-recorded videos - if not better - they also allow for audience engagement, which is key for buyers.

Your real estate agent will handle the livestream event, answer questions from the participants, and acquiesce to any requests - so all you'll have to do is handle the behind the scenes prep work. Those looking to go above and beyond to market their home can even promote these events on their social media outlets to receive more views!