Getting Your House Ready to Sell

There are all sorts of ideas about getting your house ready to sell, but the first thing any seller needs to do is decide they are going to sell...not just try to sell it.  The difference in attitude is crucial to getting ready to sell your house.

Once the decision to sell is made, your home now becomes a product and, as such, you need to think about packaging or presenting your product in the marketplace.  Here are some ideas: 

1. Solicit advice from professionals...objective advice is invaluable!
2. Pack up the clutter.  You are going to be moving anyway, so start the packing now with all of the items that are not critical to your day to day living or the staging of your home.
3. Remove personal photos and mementos...they are distracting when people come through to see the house.
4. Walk into your house as if for the first time.  Does the front door need paint?  New hardware?  New welcome mat?  How are the plantings?  First impressions matter!
5. Clean the windows!  We recently saw a dramatic increase in activity (and eventual sales price!) when a seller painted the trim and cleaned the windows in the front of the house.
6. Get rid of the cause of bad odors...don't try to mask them!  Using a floral deodorizer is often much worse than the smell that it is designed to hide!  Whether it is a litter box or teenage boys' feet...be prepared to hear about it and do something about it!
7. Make it sparkle!
8. Figure out where you are going to go during showings...don't plan on being there!  Buyers spend more time looking at the house if the seller isn't there.
9. Take care of all the routine maintenance on equipment...service the boiler, change your air filters, vacuum under your refrigerator, clean your oven...it all shows pride of ownership.
10. Pack up your off season clothing and organize your closets...less clothing makes closets look bigger.
11. Consider a home inspection prior to sale so you will know what a buyer's inspector is going to see...help eliminate surprises.  Many home inspection companies offer pre-inspection reports at discounted prices.
12. When you think you are done, give us a call and we'll give you our uncensored opinion!
13. Now the hard part...keep it neat and clean and ready for last minute showings!