Getting Ready to Sell

Tips to Prepare your home for Sale

 

Disassociate Yourself With Your Home

• Say to yourself, “This is not my home; it is a house — a product to be sold much like a box of cereal on the grocery store shelf
• Make the mental decision to “let go” of your emotions and focus on the fact that soon this house will no longer be yours
• Picture yourself handing over the keys and envelopes containing appliance warranties to the new owner
• We know it can be hard to let go of your home. This is where you raised a family, this was you first start out in life, but remember it was just 4 walls. The memories that were made there last a lifetime

 

De-Personalize

• Pack up those personal photographs and family heirlooms
• Some Buyers can’t see past personal artifacts, and you don’t want them to be distracted
• You want buyers to imagine their own photos on the walls, and they can’t do that if yours are there!
• You don’t want to make any buyer ask, “I wonder what kind of people live in this home?” 
• You want buyers to say, “I can see myself living here.”

 

Rearrange Bedroom Closets and Kitchen Cabinets

Buyers love to snoop and will open closet and cabinet doors. Think of the message it sends if items fall out!  Now imagine what a buyer believes about you if she sees everything organized. It says you probably take good care of the rest of the house as well.

• Neatly stack dishes
• Stack books
• Fold clothes
• Make sure doors open freely
• Line up shoes

 

Rent a Storage Unit or Pod

• Almost every home shows better with less furniture
• If you are just to cluttered then it's time to move some stuff out
• Remove pieces of furniture that block walkways. Since your bookcases are now empty, store them
• Remove extra leaves from your dining room table to make the room appear larger
• Leave just enough furniture in each room to showcase the room’s purpose and plenty of room to move around
• You don’t want buyers scratching their heads and saying, “What is this room used for?”

 

Remove/Replace Favorite Items

• If you want to take window coverings or fixtures with you, remove them now
• If the chandelier in the dining room once belonged to your great grandmother, take it down and replace it prior to the photo shoot
• Out of sight, out of mind.  Once you tell a buyer he/she can’t have an item it could cause you to blow your deal. Pack those items or replace if necessary

 

Make Minor Repairs, Don't spend a ton of money!

• Fix leaky faucets
• Replace cracked floor or counter tiles
• Replace burned-out light bulbs
• If you have considered replacing anything, now is a good time. Like a bedspread, area rug, shelf,etc.etc. personal items that you will be taking
• Consider painting your walls neutral colors, especially if you have grown accustomed to purple or pink walls
  (Don’t give buyers any reason to remember your home as “the house with the orange bathroom.”)
• Fix doors that don’t close properly and kitchen drawers that jam
• Patch holes in walls

 

Make the House Sparkle!

• Wash windows inside and out
• Rent a pressure washer and spray down sidewalks and exterior
• Clean out cobwebs
• Re-caulk tubs, showers and sinks
• Polish chrome faucets and mirrors
• Clean out the refrigerator
• Vacuum daily
• Wax floors
• Dust furniture, ceiling fan blades and light fixtures
• Bleach dingy grout
• Replace worn rugs
• Hang up fresh towels
• Clean and air out any musty smelling areas. Odors are a no-no
• make beds daily

 

Make sure you look good from the road! (Curb Appeal)

If a buyer won’t get out of her agent’s car because she doesn’t like the exterior of your home, you’ll never get her inside.

• Keep the sidewalks cleared
• remove extra building materials laying around
• arrange outdoor furniture
• remove dead plants or bushes
• inspect the gutters and make sure they are cleaned out
• Mow the lawn
• Paint faded window trim
• Plant bright  flowers or group flower pots together. Yellow evokes a buying emotion, so think Yellow flowers!
• Trim your bushes
• Make sure visitors can clearly read your house number

 

Garage & Basement

• Sweep and Organize, stack items neatly
• pack everything you wont be using and prepare it to be moved
• clean any oil stains or cracks
• clean around your hot water tanks and furnace so buyers can inspect