Selling Tips

Getting Your House Ready to Sell

• Disconnect Emotions – remember while talking with agents they will often refer to your “home” as property , you need to think of your “home” as marketing commodity.
• Remove Clutter-  remove clutter from shelves, counter tops, drawers, closets, garages and attics. Furniture clutter, many people have too much furniture in certain  rooms, you may want to store or get rid of excessive furniture.
• Optimizing Best Rooms – the most popular rooms in the home are the kitchens and bathrooms are the top ranked rooms in every home, get every thing off the counters, clean out items you rarely use and store them, clean out junk drawers, use up excessive pantry food items, underneath sinks are critical, clean out extra cleaning supplies and scrub down the area to confirm they are no signs of any water leaks.
• Preparing House to Sell – check all ceilings for water stains, if leaks found have it repaired professionally, you may need to fix a stain on the ceiling if this occurred very important to repair and paint.  Room colors should also be a neutral color, strong colors on walls such as red can sometimes deter a potential buyer, off white colors help your rooms appear bright and spacious.
• Odor Control – for those who smoke or have pets, you may want to eliminate smoking indoors while trying to sell your home, you can purchase an ozone spray that helps remove odors without creating a mask.  Pet owners, be sure to empty kitty litter boxes daily and use plenty of baking soda, use carpet freshener on carpets on a periodic basis, and vacuum often.  Have carpets cleaned and replace a/c filters prior to any open houses.
• Windows and Doors – check all windows to make sure they open and close easily. If not, spray WD40 often helps, make sure no cracked or broken panes. Do the same for doors, clean well and make sure no window screens are missing and polish any and all door hardware.
• Cleaning – After all of the clutter is removed and you have touched up the carpet and paint the cleaning begins, be sure all cabinets inside and out are clean, a clean home shows well.
• Exterior – saved for last, if the exterior of the home is dirty, you may need to pressure wash the home, drive way and sidewalk, clean outside windows and doors, remove yard debris and touch up flower beads and landscaping. Remember home buyers first impression is based on the view of your home from their car.   This is called “curb appeal”. So take a good look are your house and nearby houses to see how yours compares.
• Preparing for Showings or Open Houses – after you have the home in top shape have your agent come back and talk to you about the home market values and what to expect and start planning to show your home and possible Open Houses.