When selling a house, you want to create an environment where buyers can envision themselves in the space. Removing personal items and photos keeps potential buyers from getting distracted. Get rid of excess furniture and other items not being used on a daily basis, and organize the closets and kitchen cabinets. Don’t forget the basement, attic, and garage.
You might think a cuddly dog would warm the hearts of potential buyers, but you’d be wrong. Not everybody is a pet lover. Buyers don’t want to walk in your home and see a bowl full of dog food, smell the kitty litter box or have tufts of pet hair stuck to their clothes. It will give buyers the impression that your house is not clean. If you’re planning an open house, send the critters to a pet hotel for the day.
Your kitchen can make or break a home sale. The benefits of remodeling your kitchen are endless, and the best part of it is that you’ll probably get 85% of your money back. It may be a few thousand dollars to replace counter tops, but a buyer may knock $10,000 off the asking price if your kitchen looks dated. The fastest, most inexpensive kitchen updates include painting and new cabinet hardware.
Paint rooms, doors, and trims, and update house numbers with new lettering. Replace burned out bulbs, old fixtures, outdated appliances, and leaky faucets. Re-caulk and re-grout bathrooms and kitchens, and fix any broken locks, doors, sliders, screens, and drawers to ensure everything opens easily.
Take the time to remove whatever items you plan on taking with you, like window treatments, lighting fixtures, packed boxes and any other items you don’t plan to include in the sale. Doing so will also help in staging the home for buyers. Get rid of heavy drapery, open up the blinds, and let the light in from every window available. Bright, sunny rooms sell houses.
Quick fixes before selling always pay off. Mammoth makeovers, not so much. You probably won’t get your money back if you do a huge improvement project before you put your house on the market. Instead, do updates that will pay off and get you top dollar. Get a new fresh coat of paint, clean the curtains, replace door handles and cabinet hardware, make sure closet doors are on track, fix leaky faucets, and clean the grout.
It’s important that you choose to sell your home when it’s most convenient for your individual situation. The spring months may not always be the best time to sell for everyone. There are several reasons why selling a home during the fall and winter months may actually be a better time to sell than waiting until spring. It’s important that you evaluate all the pro’s and con’s of each selling time frame.
Make sure the lawn is mowed, the leaves are raked, and the snow is plowed. Trim the hedges, replace overgrown bushes, and plant flowers to make the home more inviting and appealing from the street. Make the front entry picture perfect with lovely planters, a bench, and even a new mailbox.
