The Outside
Enhance your curb appeal
Your house should look welcoming as potential buyers drive up. This could mean adding new sod, planting colorful flowers, painting the front door or replacing the mailbox. You should ensure that everything outside is neat and in order and doesn’t express your personal style. You want buyers to imagine this as the house they drive up to at the end of the day.
Clean up your back yard
The back yard needs to be clean with old patio furniture being removed. If you have a pool, make sure that it’s cleaned. You may need to power wash your deck and/or add a coat of paint to it.
Inside
Makeovers
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. The most impactful quick fixes include:
If you are going to do a major makeover, the one place that it counts is in the kitchen. 1You’re not actually selling your house, you’re selling your kitchen – that’s how important it is. 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 countertops where 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. Use a neutral-color paint so you can present buyers with a blank canvas where they can start envisioning their own style. If you have a little money to spend, buy one fancy stainless steel appliance. Why one? Because when people see one high-end appliance they think all the rest are expensive too and it updates the kitchen.
1excerpted from HGTV: 10 Best Secrets for Selling your Home.
Staging your Rooms
Use the following techniques:
Your Approach
Enhance your curb appeal
Your house should look welcoming as potential buyers drive up. This could mean adding new sod, planting colorful flowers, painting the front door or replacing the mailbox. You should ensure that everything outside is neat and in order and doesn’t express your personal style. You want buyers to imagine this as the house they drive up to at the end of the day.
Clean up your back yard
The back yard needs to be clean with old patio furniture being removed. If you have a pool, make sure that it’s cleaned. You may need to power wash your deck and/or add a coat of paint to it.
Inside
Makeovers
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. The most impactful quick fixes include:
- Fresh paint in a neutral color
- New door handles
- New faucets
- New cabinet handles
- New curtains
If you are going to do a major makeover, the one place that it counts is in the kitchen. 1You’re not actually selling your house, you’re selling your kitchen – that’s how important it is. 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 countertops where 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. Use a neutral-color paint so you can present buyers with a blank canvas where they can start envisioning their own style. If you have a little money to spend, buy one fancy stainless steel appliance. Why one? Because when people see one high-end appliance they think all the rest are expensive too and it updates the kitchen.
1excerpted from HGTV: 10 Best Secrets for Selling your Home.
Staging your Rooms
Use the following techniques:
- Set up your rooms to be how they are supposed to be used.
- Make sure your rooms are well-lit
- Boost your storage space by emptying some of the stuff from your closets and cabinets. It will make the storage space look bigger.
- Removing “you” from the house – the less personal items (photos, keepsakes, etc), the easier a buyer can picture themselves living there.
- Hide your pet – buyers don’t want to see or worse smell your pet. Hide food bowls, litter boxes, etc. Also, if your pet may try to run out the door or get upset with visitors, make other arrangements when there is an open house.
Your Approach
- Be aware of what the current housing market is.
- Ask your Realtor any questions you have about the process and make sure that he or she gives you the answers that you need to feel comfortable with the sale of your home.
- Always be ready for a showing. This means that you should keep the house clean and have a place to go when your Realtor wants to walk a potential buyer through the house.
