Preparing To Sell Your Home
Setting the Stage to show and sell your
home.
Getting your home ready to show and sell can make the difference
between a quick sale and a long market time.
Setting the stage may or may not get you more money but it can
reduce the time it takes your home to sell, which does save you
money. Setting the stage to show and sell your home is a two phase
project.
First, the things you need to do BEFORE you put your home on the
market and secondly the things you need to do before EVERY showing.
Before You Put Your
Home on the Market
DE-CLUTTER
- Rent a
storage unit if you have to. Try to look at your home through the
eyes of a buyer. That stack of stuff in the corner that you are so
used to looking at needs to be removed. If your home is small and or
crowded consider rearranging or removing furniture . The exercise
equipment that you never use - Store It! Accessories are wonderful
and should remain in moderation. Go to some model homes and see how
they look. They have accessories, but nothing is overdone. Closets
should be uncluttered also. Remove out of season clothes and give
all those things you no longer need to charity. Stack things neatly
on shelves.
OR ADD - if your furnishings are
sparse, borrow some pictures for the walls, cover the beat up sofa
with a throw and bring in a flower arrangement. Just use common
sense, make your home look the best you can.
CLEAN EVERYTHING - Your home
should sparkle. Don't overlook light fixtures, a clean fixture can
make a huge difference in the lighting in a room. While you are
cleaning the fixtures replace dim bulbs with bright ones. Make sure
your bathrooms are spotless, faucets should be shiny, counters empty
except for a few accessories, fixtures cleaned and fresh (get the
rust stains out of the toilet etc), mirrors should be clean and
streak free. The same goes for the kitchen - sparkling faucet, clean
shiny sink, cabinet fronts should be wiped down or cleaned, replace
drip pans on the range. Wash all light switches, we don't realize
how the fingerprints collect on these. Go through your home room by
room and make sure everything has been cleaned, even the utility
room and furnace.
MAKE MINOR REPAIRS - That
dripping faucet or toilet that won't quit running may just be a
quick 10 minute repair but left alone can become a concern for the
buyer. "Maybe there is a plumbing problem" , "we better offer less"
or "there is too much deferred maintenance in this house" are
typical comments from buyers.
TOUCH UP - paint or paint a
whole room if needed. The drawings your kids made on the wall will
not be considered art by potential buyers. Touch up woodwork where
needed. The scratches your dog made on the door (or worse chewed the
woodwork) should all be fixed and painted. Re-caulk tubs and
showers. More
FIRST IMPRESSIONS COUNT -
Remember you never get a second chance to make a great first
impression!
Paint your front door.
Sweep away leaves, cobwebs etc. More |