Preparing Your Home For Sale
The process of preparing your home for sale can seem like a daunting task. The opinions of what you should and shouldn’t do are many and varied.
In the current market, the work you put into preparing your home for sale will be rewarded in the speed in which your home will sell and the sale price. Following are some basic ideas to help you prepare your home for sale. First, create a list of previously deferred maintenance that needs to be done:
? In a competitive market it is essential that the work be done before the home goes on the market
? It is often helpful to have someone who doesn’t live in the house go through it and point out things that need to be done
? A growing trend is to have a licensed home inspector do a pre-inspection of your home. Not only is this a good tool to use in marketing your home, it can help save you thousands by eliminating the opportunity for a buyer to find a defect and insist you fix it or take significant money off of the selling price.
? A pre-inspection can and probably will save you money in the long run. (At minimum, it helps with marketing and gives you piece of mind that the sale will go to closing)
The next step is to “stage” your home. Your goal is to make your home appealing to the greatest number of buyers possible. Most people know if they are interested in a home within 30 seconds. The challenge is to help buyers feel comfortable and to allow them to picture themselves living in your home. A good first impression is result a of proper staging:
Visual
? The house and yard should be uncluttered so that it feels open and spacious. (You are moving anyway, so why not pack up nonessential belongings and store them?)
? Having good curb appeal and a pleasing entrance to your home is vital
? Buyers should feel comfortable.
Smell
? The house should smell clean
? Eliminate all pet & cooking odors
? When you know of a scheduled viewing, bake some cookies or bread to enhance the experience
Sound
? Appeal to their sense of hearing by having a water feature operating
All of these things combine to create the best first impression possible. Finally, it is imperative that you keep your home presentable the entire time it is on the market. Expect that there will be a showing each day. First impressions are lasting ones so it will pay to be prepared in terms of a quicker sale and more money in your pocket.
There are books dedicated to staging a home as well as companies that specialize in staging. A Realtor can also make suggestions to you.
