Present Your Home to Sell It
In today’s internet driven market, online home presentation is a critical factor in getting buyer’s in your home and an offer on the table. When you look around your home, what you perceive as personality may be a turn off to potential buyers. Below are 6 key steps in getting your home to appeal to the largest number of buyers and which equates to lesser time on market and higher offers.
1. Pre-pack, pre-pack and pre-pack some more. If you are moving you may as well pack away all unnecessary items. Excessive clutter asks potential buyer’s to focus on your stuff instead of the home. If buyers cannot visualize the way they would live in your home you have lost them. Take photos of key rooms, print them out and look at them to see what your eyes are drawn too and if the room presents like you want it too. If not, move around items or design a focal point you want to draw their attention too.
2. Showcase the key selling features of your home. If you have a dynamo kitchen, de-clutter the counters and take photos from every angle. If you have a stunning view, do not obstruct it with furniture and large window treatments and make your windows shine. Likewise if you are drawing buyers to your view make sure when you look out your window the landscaping is in tip top shape.
3. What you do not want a buyer to say when they look at your online photos, “Wow that is bright paint!” or “Look at all that wallpaper.” To a buyer, bright paint or wallpaper in any room equates to more work for them. Of course it is more work for you to paint or remove wallpaper but in a tough market you want to take every feasible step to beat out your competition and drive potential buyers to your home.
4. Take a close look at your main entrance and any other doors buyers will be entering and exiting. You only have one chance to make a first impression so make sure when a potential buyer is standing at your front door waiting for it to be opened they are not looking at peeling paint, dead plants or cobwebs. A clean swept and freshly painted porch is sure to showcase your home better than last season’s dead geraniums.
5. Walk around your home with a critical eye of a buyer and real estate agent. Make sure rooms you may not use often have a purpose and showcase that purpose.
6. Last but not least…clean like you are in the cleaning business or hire someone to do it if you do not like to clean. A dirty home for a buyer equals a home that in not taken care of.
I personally love to help my Seller’s transition their home from their personal space to one that can appeal to potential buyers. Keep in mind that although you still live there, your goal is not to, the suggestions from your Realtor® or staging professional are meant to help you sell your home. There have been many times I have heard from buyers that they did not even want to look at a home after seeing the pictures. Don’t let that be your home.
If you are thinking about selling in the future, and want to start preparing your home for sale, I welcome your call and look forward to helping you.
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