Time and time again it seems I am harping on my clients to do some Pre-Showing Prep and it always seems to go in one ear and out the other. Frustrating to say the least!! Whether you are a realtor that shows hundreds of homes a year or a buyer that walks through multiple properties, I am sure we all have seen those homes that make you wonder if they actually want someone to buy it. There is nothing worse than walking into a home that looks like the monkeys from the movie "Jumanji" just went through it. I get that it's not possible to have a home spotless 100% of the time or at least not for us mere mortals, but we can come close. I was rasied in a family of 9, 5 boys and 2 girls and my mother had that home spotless 90% of the time. We were all active in sports all year round and played soccer in the Portland area of Oregon which meant lots of rain, which incedently equals a lot of MUD. I think my mother had some sort of super power because even when she was running around with all of us kids in every which way, somehow she kept the house clean. Don't get me wrong, we as kids helped a lot around the house, but my mom did most of the work as we were too busy complaining the whole time. :-) We personally have 4 kids and we find it a real challenge to keep up with our house chores. I can't imagine having 3 more. I bring this up because if my mother who had 7 kids could cook dinner every night, run us to and from activites, help us with homework, teach piano, and still keep the house clean, then so can we. Or at least for the time ones home is on the market.
If I had any advise for sellers and some agents, I would spend time prepping your home for each showing. We were recently forwarded a message from potential buyers from one of the agents that showed our listing and this is what it said:
If this is not proof enough of the importance of prepping a house before each showing then I don't know what is. To those of you looking to sell your home and to those realtors that don't take much pride in the way your listings look, you know who you are. I give you our 2 C's that we share with all of our clients. Clean and Clutter Free! These are definite musts. What do we mean by clean? We mean really freaking clean. There is nothing worse than going into a home that has filthy baseboards, a dirty sink, nasty caulking, dirty floors, or maybe it smells, etc.
Things You Should Definitely Clean
- Baseboards- Clean your baseboards and if they don't come clean, get out the paint brush! You will be amazed at what clean baseboards do to the appearance of your home.
- Clean Your Sink- There is nothing worse than the appearance and odor of a dirty sink. Do the dishes and clean the sink, scrub it, buy new drain stops, plugs, and even faucets if it's necessary. Do whatever it takes to make it look like new. Trust me when I say this, every buyer looks in the sink!
- Caulking- Replace all the moldy black caulking, almost every shower, tub, and sink has traces of it. No one wants to wonder what's growing in your shower, so take the guess work out and replace it.
- Flooring- Don't just throw some water down over the tile. Get on your hands and knees and scrub those grout lines. You will be surprised at how much cleaner your floors will look and your potential buyers will definitely notice.
- Smell- come on people, how do you not notice your home smells??? If your home smells your potentials will leave. Smell is not only a sign of cleanliness, but it also is a sign of possible neglect. Don't let your potential buyers make there own judgement, make it for them. Have you ever went into a new build model home that smelled bad?
- Landscape- Not sure if you would call this cleaning, but it is super important that your grass is cut and edged and your flower beds weeded. I would even go to the extent of planting colorful flowers in the entry.
How To Declutter
- Knick Knacks- We all have them, but they can be destracting and therefore should be removed. Your walls should not have but 1 or 2 items on them. Potential buyers need to feel how big a space is and not feel like the walls are closing in on them.
- Furniture- Less is more, if you have a room chalked full of furniture the home can look smaller. Only leave what is being used. You should be able to walk in and around all the rooms with ease.
- Kitchen- The most important room in the house. Clear off the counters and unless you have massive amounts of counters, remove your super cool Blentec blender, the bread maker, the cook books, and anything else that shrinks the counter space.
- Rooms- make your kids pick up there toys, clothes, and make their beds. Having 4 of our own I know that this is a challenging task, but a necessary one. Things on the floor make a room look and feel small.
- Closets- Use your hangers! Keep as much stuff off the floor as possible. Again, this will also make the closet feel larger.
- Master Bedroom- Make your bed, organize your closet, clear off all the make up, hair dryer, hair crimper, hair straightener, shaver, etc.
Now that we have gone through all of that let's touch on some of the comments from the text that we recieved that I posted above. If you or your client's home have some of the items that this listing has you should use them to your advantage. For example, this particular listing has a pool with water features, so we asked our clients to make sure that they were on when people show up. This home also has a theater room, so we asked that they have a movie playing when the potential buyers show up. Always highlight the best qualities of your property, however small they may be. I would also like to point out that we have our clients open all the blinds and turn on every light. The more natural light the better! All of this along with our two C's is a sure fire way to sell a house. Take it for what it's worth, but it works for us! Cheers!
Search Homes for sale in Gilbert, AZ. and surrounding areas and if you are considering buying or selling a home, call:
The Myers
Colby 480-788-1819
Michele 480-420-9099
myersrealestate@gmail.com
www.gilbertazhomes.net
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