Part of finding people willing to buy your home is getting it into an attractive state. Here are tips you should follow for preparing your home for sale.
Preparing your home for sale can be both exciting and stressful. After all, you want to make as much money as possible and sell it quickly so that you can move on and get settled into a new house.
The key to making the process go as smoothly as possible is to understand specific tips for prepping your home to be put on the market.
This article takes a look at 7 tips that you’ll need to know for making the most of the selling process. Keep reading to discover insight that will help you sell your home for every penny that you deserve.
1. Clean Your House From Top to Bottom
The first thing you’re going to need to focus on is getting your home cleaned. This doesn’t mean simply picking up clothes off the floor here and there or sweeping. When you’re prepping your home for sale, you need to make it look immaculate.
For starters, take the time to clear out the closets and garage. These areas tend to be catch-all areas of the home, where stuff piles up over the years. Empty them out and get rid of everything that you no longer want or need.
Keep in mind that this is your chance to downsize, eliminate clutter, and make a fresh start. Donate as much stuff to charity as possible, and then toss the rest. This process is very liberating, so don’t hold back.
Once you’ve cleaned out the garage and all of the interior closets, considering hiring a professional cleaning crew to make your home look spotless.
2. Make Small Repairs
This is also the ideal time to make any minor repairs that you’ve been putting off. After all, nothing will turn off potential buyers faster than noticing repairs that would have to be made once the move in.
This could include stuff like small gashes in a wall, a chipped lightswitch cover, a ceiling fan that no longer works, or floor tile in the kitchen that has begun to peel.
This type of small repair can be completed in a weekend at minimal cost and can drastically improve a potential homebuyer’s first impression. And if you don’t have the skills for certain repairs, hiring a handyman to take care of the job would be money well spent.
3. Repaint Where Needed
When it comes time to put your home on the market, a little refresh on the paint can go a long way. Perhaps you’ve been intending to repaint the exterior for years but never got around to it. This is would be the ideal time to invest some time and energy in finally tackling the job.
This also applies to painting interior walls. After all, paint tends to fade over time, and you’ve probably redecorated over the years, moving paintings around, leaving holes.
Go ahead and patch the wall wherever necessary, then give the walls a fresh and vibrant new layer of paint that will help give your home a more up-to-date look and feel.
This is another task that you might not feel comfortable tackling yourself. If that’s the case, it would probably be a smart idea to hire a painter who can take care of the job quickly and with minimal investment. You might wince at the expense, but a fresh paint job is another detail that will help you make a positive first impression.
4. Get Rid of Personal Items
You should also put away any personal items. This could include family photos, children’s artwork from over the years, or anything else that directly reflects the personality of the people who have lived in the home.
Why is this necessary? Well, the goal is to help potential buyers to envision the space as their own. Thus you want to give them a clean slate to work with. The house needs to look like a showroom that could already belong to them rather than someone else’s home that they are simply visiting.
You might think it sounds like a challenge to clear away personal items, but your real estate agent could make a walk-through and offer useful advice regarding what items can stay and the ones that should definitely go.
5. Update Your Landscaping
How does your landscaping look? This would be the ideal time to update the look of your lawn with a few trees, shrubbery, or to get some fresh sod put in. At the very least, make sure that any leaves have been raked and bagged, and the lawn should be freshly mowed within a day or two showing the house.
There’s no need to invest a small fortune in updating your landscaping, but if it lacks personality, you’d be wise to at least plant a few flowers to provide a splash of freshness and color.
6. Maximize Curb Appeal
Never underestimate the power of curb appeal. This includes the condition of your lawn and landscaping, but you shouldn’t stop there.
Keep in mind that your home’s curb appeal is your first opportunity to make a positive impression on buyers.
Repair any damage to your driveway, gutters, and shingles, and touch up the exterior trim and shutters around your windows. Again, you don’t have to spend much to make a significant difference in your home’s outward appearance.
7. Hire a Staging Company
You should also consider hiring a staging company. These are professionals within the industry that specialize in transforming the interior of your home into a true showcase.
They’ll bring in furniture that will make your room pop, which will help potential buyers get super excited about making an offer.
Tips For Preparing Your Home for Sale
Preparing your home for sale can feel complicated and exhausting. Fortunately, the tips contained here can help reduce the stress involved and get your home sold as quickly as possible.
Click here to learn how to take the emotion out of selling your house.