Ready...
Set... SELL!
Helpful
Tips to Get Your Home Ready to Sell
(And Did I Say Faster and For More $$$?)
Now that you've made that all-important decision to sell
your home, you'll want to make
sure you're doing everything you can to position it favorably
in today's real estate
market. Working with your real estate agent on pricing
and marketing is key, but
also utilizing the skills of a licensed home staging professional
to make your home
look and show its best is equally important.
Just as you would want to detail your automobile before
selling to make it look its
best (and not to mention sell for the highest amount possible),
so would you want
to give your home the same kind of attention before putting
it up for sale. The "buyers'
market" of today makes it even more important to take
the up-front steps to ensure
your home is ready to capture attention, ready to command
favorable showings and
ready to bring about desirable offers.
To help get you started, I've included a "get your
house ready to sell" punchlist.
Many of the steps I've included seem to be good old-fashioned
common sense -
and they are... but sometimes even the most obvious and
practical guidelines
can be overlooked by the homeseller. After all, we live
in our homes and we've
become quite comfortable there. Sometimes a punchlist can
jog our perceptions
and open our eyes allowing us to see our homes a bit more
objectively.
Be proactive and put yourself in the "driver's seat" when
it comes to selling your
home. Take charge of the way your home looks (and feels)
to potential buyers.
Follow these steps and you will be able to give your home
the edge it needs to
command more and better showings and ultimately more and
higher offers.
Get it READY. Get your home SET. and Watch your home SELL!
Now
Here's Your Punchlist to Help Get Your Home Ready to Sell!
• Walk
through the front door of your home. What do you see? Is
it easy to open
the door? Does it creek? Once the door is open, is it easy to enter the home
or
is there some obstruction? Too much furniture in the way? A coat rack too close
to
the doorway? A foyer table too large for the space? Check out all of these things.
It is very likely that the buyer will want to access your home through the front
door
so make sure its easy ingress and that what you see is appealing and uncluttered.
• Clear
all unnecessary objects from furniture throughout the house. Keep decorative
objects on the furniture restricted to groups of 1, 3, or 5 items.
In
general, a sparsely decorated home helps the buyer "mentally move in" with
their own belongings. Dust or polish your furniture. If it's scratched, use a
scratch covering stain. If it's dirty, have it cleaned or slipcovered. You want
your furniture to "reflect up" to your home, not down.
• Rearrange
or remove excessive furniture from your home. Far too often, homeowners have
too much furniture which can detract from the beauty of the
home. Also too much furniture can make rooms appear smaller. Remember you're
not
in the business of selling furniture, your in the business of selling
your home.
• Clear
all unnecessary objects from the kitchen and that means small appliances which
are not used frequently. Having too many small appliances on the countertops
can make your counterspace appear smaller. (I recently showed a house which had
nearly every available square inch of counterspace used up with small appliances,
i.e.,
toaster, toaster oven, microwave, blender, coffeemaker, standmixer, food processor,
wafflemaker, electric frypan, rice steamer, and on and on.) I'm sure all of these
were not used regularly, so my advice would be take away the small appliances
which are not used at least weekly. Also, don't use countertops for too many
decorative items, cookbooks etc.
• Remove
any magnets, sticky notes, photos from the fronts and sides of your refrigerator.
Keep your countertops clean and your oven, cooktop, refrigerator,
and sinks spotless. If your cabinet fronts need cleaning, do so. Wipe them
down with a mild cleaning solution and warm water. Same with kitchen floors
to make them look their best and oh please remember, no dirty dishes in the sink!
• In
the bathroom, remove any unnecessary items from the countertops, shower stall,
bathtubs, etc. Place them out of the way in drawers, under the sink or in a closet.
Keep your towels neat and clean. Make sure all of your bathrooms are clean
and tidy. Windex mirrors, countertops and keep all fixturing, tubs, showers,
commodes extra clean and sparkling. If you have scatter rugs, also make sure
they are laundered and stain-free. Keep floors clean and that means around the
commode too.
Review
the house interior walls, windows, floors, room by room and:
1) Paint any room needing paint. If your walls are damaged and are in need of
patching, do so before painting. Try to stick with neutral colors which appeal
to a high percentage of buyers. Remember flat paint is more forgiving to
minimize imperfections in your drywall, but may not be as easy to clean as
eggshell or satin finishes.
2) Clean carpeting and floors as needed. If carpets are badly stained or retain
pet
odors, consider replacing them along with the padding.
3) Clean windows as needed throughout the house. This is one of the most overlooked
details by home sellers yet can be considered so important by home buyers. If
time or budget only affords some windows to be cleaned inside and out, choose
the windows which are most important such as those which provide the best view
to the outdoors and those which have pull up blinds or open draperies.
• If you need more room to store superfluous possessions in an attempt to minimize
clutter, consider using the garage or an off-site storage facility. If you do
choose
the garage, make sure you store items neatly and in an organized manner.
• Make sure your home stays tidy and smelling good at all times. You never know
when an agent may be calling to show your house. You want to be ready to show
your home at all reasonable hours.
To improve the curb appeal of your home, consider the following steps to maximize
your home's exterior potential:
• Walk
the perimeter of your home but start with the curb. That's right - that's why
they
call it "Curb Appeal". When a buyer pulls up to your
home, what do
they see? The best
way to find out is to walk outside to your curb with a pad and pencil. Go ahead
and
be rather critical. That's what buyers do. Pretend you're one. Notice the yard,
the
mailbox, the driveway, the sidewalks, the front door and porch, the windows,
the
brick or siding, the roof and gutters, the landscaping and on and on.
• Write down what you like and what you don't like. Then walk the rest of your
property
and see what needs your attention.
Let me give you a little help to get you started.
• Mailboxes should be upright (not leaning) and in good condition.
• Yard should be mowed and sidewalks edged. In the fall, leaves should be
raked and contained. Sidewalks should be swept.
• Landscaping should be maintained. Shrubs and bushes should be pruned
and kept in shape, flower beds should be deweeded and raked. Dead plants
and/or shrubs, trees should be removed completely. Don't leave any stumps!
Bushes, plants, and trees should not block entrances or windows.
• Gutters should be clean and not looking clogged.
• Front entrance/porch should be swept and clean and free of cobwebs, leaves etc.
Front entrance door should be clean and window sidelights also sparkling.
If you have any outdoor furniture, also make sure it is in good condition and
clean.
• Visible garbage cans should be kept in good condition and externally clean.
• Check the condition of the paint on your home, especially with the trim and
the front door.
• Clean
up patios and decks. They should be swept and free of clutter. The patios decks,
and back yard should not have too many small planters, pots, charcoal,
unclean barbeques, etc. Pick up children's toys and bicycles from the yard as
well.
Do your best to look at your home through the "buyer's eyes".
Be painfully honest with yourself and as objective as possible. Consult with
your realtor
and home stager as necessary. Remember, this is what we do for a living and
hopefully we've gotten pretty good at it. We're here to help you so don't hesitate
to give us a call when you do need some extra help.
Thanks!
Gary Woodward
Licensed Stager
and Realtor
