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Ready to sell your current home and move to new pastures? The best tip you can get is to look at your home through the eyes of potential purchasers.
Consider that people who will be looking through your home are searching for their ‘perfect future’. Anything you can do to create a clean, inviting and neutral environment will allow the imaginations of potential purchasers to begin creating visions of themselves in their new home.
Emotion can play a large part in the decision to buy, and if a home ‘feels’ great – welcoming, clean and well taken care of – you are already well on your way to a faster and more satisfactory sale.
Consider, also, that people don’t usually notice what is right about a property, but will remember what they consider to be faults. With these thoughts in mind, the following is a list of tips to help you prepare your home to present its’ best possible face – to ‘Dress your Home for Success”;
Outside:
‘Curb appeal’ is the effect a home has on someone as soon as they get close – the first impression – and it is VERY important. Neatness can make a world of difference. Help people fall in love with your home at first sight:
- Keep any grass neatly trimmed, including around gardens and trees, and against the sidewalk.
- Keep garden edges neat and eliminate weeds and any dead plants.
- Plant a few annuals, if necessary, to fill in bare spots.
- A clay pot/s with flowers or ornamental evergreens can add life and color to your front door area – highly recommended! This is a perfect finishing touch, and not very expensive.
- Keep all walking areas swept and free of debris.
- Clean all windows, inside and out.
- Take an objective look at your garage and basement. Such areas should appear neat and orderly, with everything organized. If you don’t have time to go through everything, try storing things in plastic bins with labels, which is a quick way to give the appearance of neatness. This tip will work anywhere in the house!
- If there are kids’ toys in the yard, either keep them in the garage, in a shed, or stack them neatly in the corner. You’ll want your yard to look as spacious and tidy as possible.
- A few dollars in paint can make a huge difference in how your house appears at first glance – freshen it up! If any doors or window frames need painting, do it now. Try a new color on your front door.
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The closer your home looks to a ‘model’ home, the more easily people will fantasize about what it will be like to live there, to picture themselves and their own things in the home’s spaces. The more tidy things appear, the more people will get a subconscious feeling that this home is well taken care of, and worth the price you are asking.
Inside:
- Do a thorough cleaning; this includes places you may normally pass over – baseboards, pictures, mirrors; wiping out your washer, dryer, fridge, stove , and any other appliances – yes, people look!
- Touch up paint where needed and do any minor repairs as necessary. Many purchasers will want to have a home inspection performed, so it is best to deal with any problem areas now, before they have a chance to adversely affect a sale.
- Organize your storage spaces. This isn’t as difficult as it sounds. Just rearrange everything in your fridge, closets, and cupboards to generally look neat and organized. Try using baskets and boxes to stack and store things neatly, and/or begin packing things and store them off-site or neatly in your garage or basement. You have to pack soon anyway!
