Disassociate Yourself From Your Home
Prepping and staging a house. Every seller wants her home to sell fast and bring top dollar. Does that sound good to you? Well, it’s not luck that makes that happen. It’s careful planning and knowing how to professionally spruce up your home that will send home buyers scurrying for their checkbooks. Here is how to prep a house and turn it into an irresistible and marketable home.
You’ve lived in this home for years, and it’s become part of you. However, you’ve got to make that break. Here are a few tips:
• Say to yourself, “This is not my home; it is a house — a product to be sold much like a box of cereal on the grocery store shelf.
• Make the mental decision to “let go” of your emotions and focus on the fact that soon this house will no longer be yours.
• Picture yourself handing over the keys and envelopes containing appliance warranties to the new owners!
• Don’t look backwards — look toward the future.
De-Personalize.
Pack up those personal photographs and family heirlooms. Buyers can’t see past personal artifacts, and you don’t want them to be distracted. You want buyers to imagine their own photos on the walls, and they can’t do that if yours are there! You don’t want to make any buyer ask, “I wonder what kind of people live in this home?” You want buyers to say, “I can see myself living here.”
1. De-Clutter is the number one priority
People collect an amazing quantity of junk. Consider this: if you haven’t used it in over a year, you probably don’t need it.
o If you don’t need it, why not donate it or throw it away?
o Remove all books from bookcases.
o Pack up those knickknacks.
o Clean off everything on kitchen counters.
o Put essential items used daily in a small box that can be stored in a closet when not in use.
o Think of this process as a head-start on the packing you will eventually need to do anyway.
1. Rearrange bedroom closets and storage cabinets
Buyers love to snoop and will open closet and cabinet doors. Think of the message it sends if items fall out! Now imagine what a buyer believes about you if she sees everything organized. It says you probably take good care of the rest of the house as well.
Make Minor Repairs
In some seller’s markets, for example, you can sell a home in its present condition without much complaint. In normal markets or buyer’s markets, repairs can make or break your sale.
• Patch holes in walls.
• Fix leaky faucets.
• Fix doors that don’t close properly and kitchen drawers that jam.
• Consider painting your walls neutral colors, especially if you have grown accustomed to purple or pink walls.
(Don’t give buyers any reason to remember your home as “the house with the orange bathroom.”)
• Replace burned-out light bulbs.
Make the House Sparkle!
Cleaning your home should go beyond the usual weekly or day-to-day cleaning job. This could take all day to complete, and you might want to hire assistance.
• Wash windows inside and out.
• Clean out cobwebs.
• Re-caulk tubs, showers and sinks.
• Clean out the refrigerator.
• Dust furniture, ceiling fan blades and light fixtures.
• Bleach dingy grout.
• Clean and air out any musty smelling areas. Odors are a no-no.
Scrutinize Curb Appeal
If a buyer won’t get out of her agent’s car because she doesn’t like the exterior of your home, you’ll never get her inside.
• Go outside and open your front door. Stand there. Do you want to go inside? Does the house welcome you?
• Linger in the doorway of every single room and imagine how your house will look to a buyer.
• Does it look like nobody lives in this house? You’re almost finished.
• Mow the lawn.
• Paint faded window trim.
• Trim your bushes.
• Make sure visitors can clearly read your house number.
These are just a few ideas for you to go off of, when getting your home ready for sale!!!
We here at Perrella hope you have a safe and enjoyable weekend.
