Top 10 Tips on preparing your house for listing
by siteadmin | Jan 22, 2016 | Articles |
- Improve your landscape and make sure your curb appeal is great for a good first impression.
Make sure your home’s lawn is immaculate by mowing the lawn, removing debris, pruning bushes, getting rid of weeds and planting flowers on the side of the house.
- Tidy up the outside.
The exterior of the house is the buyer’s first impression. Maintain a healthy looking house by decluttering the outside. Make sure to clean out the gutters, pressure wash the driveway & backyard patio, put away garbage cans & bins, hide pet items, remove pool cleans, chemical bottles, cover the outside grill, and arrange patio furniture
- Update & repair.
Make sure your home looks the best by taking care of repairs like broken windows, leaky roofs, or repainting.
- Make your house inviting.
Pay attention to smells. Making the home bigger than it is by de-cluttering and creating extra light. Place a new welcome mat, flowers at front door, make sure all the lights are on, all bulbs work, all fans are on, All window blinds are dawn & windows are cleaned.
- Depersonalize for buyer to personalize.
It’s important for buyers to see themselves living in a home. One way that is helpful is removing family knicknacks, extra furniture, personalized photos, childrens toys. The more items in the house the more people picture clutter and see the house turning them into clutter fiens. Consider hiring someone to help stage the house to improve your listing to its maximum potential.
- Tidy up interior of house.
Make sure the house has been thoroughly cleaned and every surface shines. Ensure its vacuumed, the counter tops have been wiped and are shiny. Dust off the fireplace mantle, fan blades, closets are organized, appliances are polished. Clean your home until it sparkles.
- Neutralize color.
Tone down colors and make sure all colors are neutral instead of radical. Most buyers get turned off by bright colors so focus on tans and whites to open up each room.
- Remove bad odors.
Hide litter box, spray pet areas, and let fresh air in through your home. Make sure to have fresh flowers throughout the home, make a fresh batch of cookies, and the smell of orange. Making your house smell like oranges makes people identify with clean, fresh, and inviting.
- Brighten up the House.
Remember that light is a sign the home is inviting and that it opens up all areas of the house.
Bad lighting can be one of the biggest turn offs to prospective buyers. When lights are dim or not working people seem to think you are trying to hide and not showcase certain parts of the house.
Personally, I suggest a high wattage out put light on the cooler Kelvin scale from anywhere between 4100-6500 Kelvin.
- Hide pet and make sure your not there during time of showing.
Remember that all the previous steps we’ve mentioned is for prospective buyers to feel like the home they are choosing is theirs and theirs alone, not the previous owners. One of the biggest distractions that is often shared is they could not see themselves living in the home and do not feel a comfortable presence in what they are seeing.
Also, they may not want to voice their opinions or concerns around people they have not formed a trust with.
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