Prep Your Home for Sale!

1) Improve your landscaping. Curb appeal is crucial to a good first impression. Make sure your home’s lawn is immaculate, seed bare spots, weed and mow the lawn, prune the bushes, weed and mulch the planting beds +garden and plant flowers. Add a few front window boxes or add a colorful large pot of flowering plants at the front entrance.

2) Clean the outside. Again – Curb appeal is crucial to a good first impression. A so so exterior will make buyers think you’ve slacked off on interior maintenance as well. Be sure to clean the gutters and pressure wash your home’s siding. Give wood trim a fresh coat of paint if needed

3) Make the front door inviting. Ok … last time with Curb appeal but it really can not be over stated. A fresh coat of paint, especially in a color that contrasts with the home, will make the front door stand out. Replace faded house numbers so buyers can see them from the curb. Add a new mailbox as well if your current one has seen better days. Buy a new welcome mat to let buyers know they’re invited into your home.

4) Make repairs. You want your home to be in the best condition possible. Take care of major defects like broken windows or a leaky roof that could discourage buyers. Even small repairs such as burnt out bulb in light fixtures, a dripping sink faucet or dirty HVAC filters will make a potential Buyer second guess a homes condition.

5) Remove clutter and depersonalize. Buyers want to envision their belongings in your home. Edit knickknacks, photos (although some personal photos do help create a lifestyle feel for a home), extra furniture and other personal items…. such a pet bedding and toys and children toys. If the extra items will not fit well in closets and or an attic it is worth the investment of a storage unit. If you have a garage make sure it is ready for a car and is easy to walk through, not a space for all the extra stuff that has no where to go.

6) Rearrange furniture and art to make rooms most spacious and photo ready. A qualified Real Estate Broker will be able to come through your home and tell you exactly what to do to get the best shot of6) each of your rooms. Moving a bed from one wall to another can make a bedroom seem larger, changing the position of chairs and sofa in a living room can make it feel more spacious … you get the idea.

7) Organize closets. Messy closets give the appearance that your home doesn’t have enough storage space. This goes for ALL storage areas coat closets, bedroom closets, hall closets, laundry “rooms” and kitchen pantries.

8) Clean, clean, clean!  Dust, polish and wash from floor to ceiling, you want every surface to sparkle and shine.

9) Take color down a notch or freshen it up. You might like your purple living room, but it may not work for a lot of buyers. Paint your walls a neutral color that will appeal to a wide range of buyers. Also the paint color may be fine but faded – a fresh coat of paint will brighten up any room. Even if you can not paint every room in your house pick one or two that will give the most impact.

10) Eliminate bad odors. Hide the litter box and invest in plug in air neutralizer throughout your home. Do not go with a heavy sent but something fresh and light. When showing the home, fill it with inviting smells by putting out fresh flowers and baking a batch of cookies… this sounds a little old school but it really works!

Need more advice on prepping your home for sale and/or general listing questions?  Give me a call!