Top 10 Things You Can Do To Help Sell Your Home:
1. Make a great First Impression! Your home should be memorable.
Home buying is an emotional purchase. Typically, buyers
decide in the first 30 seconds if this is a home they are interested
in. The emotions they feel will determine whether your home
makes them feel as though they could live there. The front
entrance should be welcoming. Does your home look great from the
street? Your home should be one the buyers want to go in as soon as
they see it from the street, and want to see the rest of when they enter.
2. Clean, Clean, Clean! This is something most sellers overlook -
but the buyer will not. Cleaning is a much bigger job than most
people think. Buyers will look at the kitchen and bathroom with a
critical eye; if the grout around the sink or the bathtub needs to be
re-caulked - do it! If buyers think they will have to clean and fix
things they will offer less money for the home. For some buyers,
seeing a home that needs to be clean will turn them off completely.
If your home is clean, then it looks as though it has been taken care
of and loved. This is the emotion you want the buyer to feel. Get
help; enlist a friend to be objective about the little things.
3. De-clutter! Since you are already planning to move,
START PACKING! Get all personal items that you don’t need
or use packed and stored. All personal photographs and
children's art should be packed away, ready for your new home.
You want the buyer to see themselves in your home; they can't do
that if all they see is you and your family. Only the front of your
clean refrigerator should be seen, no magnets or notes. Put them
up in the new home, this one is for sale!
4. Store It! Many people have more furniture than they need or use
in their homes. Grandma's chair, or that special child rocker you are
saving for the Grandchildren, pack it up and store it! Have the
kids pick out a few toys to put in a special basket, then pack
the rest up for the new house. The more open a room is, the larger it
looks. If a room looks large it is called Square Footage, which is
$$$ in the Real Estate Market. When the room is as empty as you
can get it, try to get your furniture away from the walls as much
as possible. Although this is not always an option, you should try
moving furniture around just for appearances, not for living.
5. Let there be light! Open the curtains and let the light in. You may
like your privacy, but a buyer doesn't want to think about that when
looking at a home. They want to know that light will come in and the
house will not be dark.
6. Background! Look at your walls; are they clean and bright?
Has it been years since you painted? Neutral colored walls (not
just white) that are clean and have an up to date color make a huge
impression. Make sure your artwork matches your decor
tastefully, and the scale or size is right for the room. Don’t forget
your woodwork; if painted, does it look fresh and clean, if wood,
does it look dusted and clean? (A little lemon oil goes a long
way!)
7. Set the stage! Most people only use their dining room on special
occasions. Make it look as though you use it all the time. Set the
table as if you were having a dinner party in an hour. Make sure
you have a centerpiece; fresh flowers are an inexpensive way to
make someone want to sit down and join the party. If your home
is casual, set a casual setting. If it is a formal dining room, pull
out all the stops and set it with China and all the things you never
get to see!
8. Empty closets as much as possible. Pack all items that you are
not going to use in the next 3 - 6 months. The kitchen cabinets
should not be over looked, nor should bookcases, hutches, built-ins,
entertainment centers or any other storage space. You want it to
look as though there is room for the buyer’s things. Buyers will open
cabinet doors to see inside - make sure they see space. If you have
a lot of stuff in the garage, now is the time to pack it up or get rid of it.
9. If you have pets, contain them. If they are hyper, bark, jump, or
could be a danger, you need to take that into consideration. Find a
neighbor to help if you can't take or board them.
10. Remember - smell is a very important sense... and your house
has a smell of its own. Is yours a good smell or a bad smell? Do you
have pets? Most owners are immune to the smell of their pet and
the odor of their home. Ask that one friend who is sensitive to
those things; you know which one she is. Does she smell the fish
you had last week or your teenage boys school shoes? Odor
eliminating sprays work very well, and baking is a good idea.
It is my MISSION to get you the largest return for your investment!!!
