Preperation for Selling Your Home

PREPARATION

 

Think like a buyer. Prospects naturally want the best for themselves. They arrive at your front door wanting to find the right home. If you have done your preparation work, every room in your home will lead them to end their search. Get everything done before your first showing.

 

 

LANDSCAPE

·  Make sure the lawn is neatly mowed, raked and edged

·  Prune and shape shrubbery and trees to compliment your home

·  Plant seasonal flowers along the walks and in the planting areas

·  Add an inch or two of bark mulch around your shrubs and trees

 

 

REMOVE EVERYTHING THAT YOU CAN TEMPORARILY LIVE WITHOUT.

Put everything you can into temporary storage, donate it to charity, sell it, give it away, or burn it. Removing everything from your home before putting it on the market...

·  Make your homes look bigger

·  Allows a prospect to more easily imagine their own items in your home

·  Allows you to remove personal fixtures, such as grandma's chandeliers, now, so that you won't have to bargain over them later

·  Neutralizes the personality of your home

·  Gives the inspector greater access

·  Lowers the cost of packing and shipping items

·  Prepares your home for cleaning, painting, etc

·  Creates a possible tax deduction if you donate items to charity

 

Tip: Videotape anything put into storage in case you later need to support an insurance claim or tax deduction.

  

  

EMPTY AND ORGANIZE YOUR CLOSETS AND CABINETS.

Prospects will look in closets and cabinets. Make them appear larger by emptying them.

 

 

CLEAN EVERYTHING.

No house is too clean, and few things increase marketability as much as cleaning. Used car dealers wouldn't think of selling a car without detailing it first.

·  Steam clean carpeting.

·  Clean windows and storms inside and out

·  Scrub bathrooms, and keep them spotless

·  Degrease the oven

·  Clean the water heater, furnace, and anything else prospects will be paying extra attention to

·  Power wash your siding and deck if needed

 

Tip: The kitchen is the heart of the home. It is the room that prospects will likely stops in and talk during a home tour. Clear all clutter from kitchen counters. Remove everything, even small appliances, to maximize the appearance of work space.

REPLACE BADLY WORN OR STAINED CARPETING.

Replace with inexpensive, neutral-colored carpeting. The worse your existing carpeting is, the better the return you'll get on this investment.

 

Tip: Use this opportunity to screw down loose and squeaky sub-flooring.

  

  

DON'T BUY ANY NEW MAJOR APPLIANCES OR FURNITURE.

·  They won't make your home look much better

·  The buyer will not reimburse you for them at full price

·  They cost money to move

·  They clutter up the place

·  The buyer may not share your taste

·  The prospect doesn't value them as much as they cost you

Exception: Tasteful mirrors can help direct sunlight or make a home appear bigger.

 

Tip: Leave out owner's manuals to appliances that are included with the home.

  

  

STOP SMOKING INDOORS.

Cigarette smoke causes odors and stains. Now is the time to kick the habit, at least indoors.

 

 

REPLACE TOILET SEATS.

·  They are inexpensive and easy to replace.

·  They make the whole toilet appear new.

·  Visiting prospects inspect and may use the bathroom.

 

Tip: Remove personal cloth lid and tank covers.

  

  

BUY ALL NEW SHOWER CURTAINS.

They are not worth washing.

CHANGE LIGHT BULBS.

Lighting has a tremendous impact.

·  Replace burned-out bulbs so prospects can see how cheery your home is.

·  Put in higher wattage, soft light bulbs to make your home brighter

·  Install lighting on stairs for safety

·  Add battery-operated lights to those closets that lack them

PAINT ANYTHING THAT NEEDS TO BE PAINTED.

An investment in cosmetic improvement will bring a greater return than mechanical improvement. Consider painting basement walls, front door, metal railings and trim.

·  Use neutral colors

·  Be neat

·  Label and leave the extra paint for the new owner. Moving companies won't transport it anyway

·  Don't paint unless you are good at it

1. Prospects will notice fresh paint if it's sloppy and wonder what you are covering up.

2. A sloppy paint job is worse than no painting at all.

  

Tip: Take photos or video of everything before you paint it to prove you weren't covering up any major defects. Later you may need to demonstrate this to a prospect, inspector, or worse, a judge.

 

 

IMPROVE THE DRIVEWAY SURFACE.

First impressions are lasting impressions. The surface of your driveway should be beyond reproach. Seal asphalt driveways, patch concrete ones, or order a load of stone to spread. It is relatively inexpensive and is the first thing prospects see in sales photos or when they visit.

 

 

CLEAN YOUR GUTTERS.

It may be raining when a prospect visits. Also, inspectors look for and note debris in gutters.