First impressions are extremely important. From the moment the prospective buyer pulls up in front of your home, you want to put your best foot forward. You want the buyer to immediately feel that this could be "home". The process of preparing your home for sale is generally referred to as "staging", and involves polishing up the exterior and interior of the home.
Have you ever seen "Designed to Sell" on HGTV? If not, try to catch it sometime. In each episode, some poor seller is told their home is a nightmare, and a designer is given $2000 to ready it for sale. Now, I don't recommend that you go out and blow a couple of grand to stage your home. But the show has some good ideas for showing off a home's assets, and downplaying its liabilities. Let me give you an example.
Recently, one of my listings had a kitchen that was in good shape, but a little dark and dull. It also had an eating area that was a little on the small side, but was suitable for a small 2-4 seat table. However, the homeowner left this space empty, which highlighted the fact that the floor was a little yellowed. In order to jazz up this kitchen, we: (1) installed a new but inexpensive light fixture, (2) installed inexpensive knobs on the cabinets that had previously no hardware and (3) the seller borrowed a small oak kitchen table to demonstrate to buyers that a table would in fact fit (and it downplayed the yellowed floor, too). The property soon sold, and at the highest price for that model.
I've included a checklist for preparing your home for sale in my other blog postings (including the one right before this post). I would also be happy to tour your home with you, when the time comes to sell, and provide some further advice.
Comments (1)Subscribe to CommentsComment