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Part 2 of 3: To-Dos Before You List Your Home

By
Real Estate Agent with The Real Estate Power Houses

Buckets of Fun

I know many people who are planning to list their homes for sale have asked me how to prepare their homes, so I prepared 36 tips, which I will list in 3 postings. The second 12 tips, which I call "Buckets of Fun" (because they focus on painting & gardening) are: 

13. Paint the interior walls a neutral color.  If you can't paint the walls off-white or eggshell, paint the home a light beige. Concentrate on the living areas, kitchen, and master bedroom.

14. Replace or paint over tired or dated wallpaper.  Also remember your wall paper should appeal to 80% of buyers, if it doesn't replace it or prep the wall and paint over it.

15. Paint the front door.  The color can be different than the house color but should coordinate with the shutters or molding.  It should be a neutral color or in earth tones.

16. Paint the exterior of the house or paint the trim.  If the paint job needs to be done, paint it! Buyers consider an exterior paint job to be BIG work and they will deduct BIG dollars if it isn't done.

17. Paint the garage door to freshen it up.  If it doesn't work right have it repaired.

18. Kill the Red Ants.  You can buy a treatment that kills red ants for the entire summer season for less than $40 for the typical yard.  Buy it and use it. Nothing kills a sale faster than the potiential buyer being bitten by fire ants.

19. Remove overgrown plants and replant.  Your home should be framed by plants, not hidden by them.

20. Fill holes in your yard with fill dirt and then sod.  Sod the yard where needed.

21. Plant flowers to make a great first impression.  I suggest red or yellow flowers.  If your flower beds are being "visited" by cats, plant Society Garlic - cats hate it and the purple flowers are very nice.

22. Water the yard and plants weekly.  No one wants a dead lawn.

23. Mow the yard weekly in the Summer and at least every other week during the rest of the year.  No one wants a jungle.

24. Clean the pool if you have one.  It should sparkle. A dirty pool reminds people that a pool requires work - you want to remind people how much fun a pool can be.

Comments (6)

Tom Davis
Harrington ERA,DE Homes For Sale, $$ Save $$ Buy Today ! - Dover, DE
FREE Delaware Homes Search!, $$ Save $$ - Find Homes! Delaware Realtor

Good Job on tips...

Thanks Tom Davis Realtor

World Class Realtor

Jul 01, 2008 04:48 PM
Chris Tesch
RE/MAX Bryan-College Station - College Station, TX
College Station, Texas Real Estate

Excellent tips for sellers!

Jul 01, 2008 04:49 PM
Roseann Annis
Prudential Homesale Services Group - Camp Hill, PA

Jese, thank you!  I especially liked your suggestions about replacing worn-out, lackluster shrubs and bushes AND making sure the pool is crystal clear and clean. I asked to be released from a listing where the adult son. because he did not want to move on his own, left the pool a dirty mess with leaves, trash and other debris.  I'll look for more posts from you.

Jul 01, 2008 04:54 PM
Mike Wong
Keller Williams Realty Southwest - Sugar Land, TX
Realtor: Commercial, Residential, Leasing, Invest

Jese great blog and content. Excellent ideas!

Jul 01, 2008 04:54 PM
Sun City Grand Homes Surprise AZ Real Estate Leolinda Bowers Designated Broker Leolinda Realty
Leolinda Realty - Surprise, AZ
Sun City Grand in Surprise Arizona

This is excellent information!  I can't wait for the next 12 tips.

Jul 01, 2008 04:56 PM
Robert Machado
HomePointe Property Management, CRMC - Sacramento, CA
CPM MPM - Property Manager and Property Management

Great tips even for those not selling.  I think we should all enjoy our homes even if not selling and this list also helps with that.

Jul 01, 2008 05:33 PM