Sellers: Here are a few tips to getting your home ready to sell! Thoughtful real estate agents, industry insiders, and even more importantly potential homebuyers notice, even the smallest of details. Here are 10 that can help a seller get a home ready to show and sell.
- Clean up to perfection and make sure your home smells clean! Consider an initial "pre-list" professional cleaner coming in for your floors and carpets, as it sets the "condition" bar for your highest buyer interest. (You can even swish around a little bit of Lysol/Pine Sol in water in the kitchen sink before each showing)
- Remove clutter on the floors, even the floors of the closets. Clutter will make a room appear to be smaller than it really is.
- Straighten bookcases and dust around and between the books. Straighten up closets and hang each item neatly.
- Organize your pantry, line and/or clean the shelves, and straighten the laundry/utility room. Use totes for seasonal items and consider renting a storage unit to eliminate clutter if you have more than you can reasonably store.
- Select a choice of paint colors throughout your home. Some white or off white is fine, but most homes look institutional with too much white: A blend of whites, tans, grays, or even yellows and greens are what the eyes of buyers prefer. There are some great paint and design tools on the internet that can help you.
- Photo's: Do not remove all of your clean, framed photos. Leave some them on the bookcases and tables as it gives a cozy family feeling. An important exception would be if you had a excessive pictures or "shrines", especially a hallway lined with photo's. If you do, remove all of them, and putty and paint the nail holes and the walls.
- Toys. Leave a handful of some of your children’s favorites out along with their books, but store most of them.
- Clean bathrooms are vital! They have to be spotless. No bathtub toys, or towels on the floor. Clean and smelling fresh. Toilets, Tubs, and Showers (Add a new "eye catching" shower curtain if yours is not!)
- Garage & Yard. For some reason, homes having yellow or red flowers in pots or near the front porch seem to sell faster. Make sure yard is always manicured as this is the first thing a prospective buyer will see. Well shoveled driveways and walkways in the winter are a strong sign of a well kept home as well. The outside appearance is the "gate" of buyer reactions. Garages are the least important for organization, but shelving units, stored stuff, and swept floors can really improve the look and feel of a home.
- Backyard/Patio: Try to create a patio space for entertaining. Make sure to clean patio furniture and have fresh flowers or plants in each pot.
10.5 As a helpful hint: Clothes hampers! Especially for young families, possibly one for each room. Anytime you leave for the day when there might be a showing, the items on the floor go into the hampers, and the hampers and the family go to the car. Simple fix. Take the clutter with you and leave none of it behind! Remember, these "moments" of inconvenience and sacrifice will reward you with a higher sale price, and shorter market time!
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