How to Prepare When Selling Your Home

Every seller wants their home to get sold quickly and attract a good price. While that may be the case, ensuring this happens has very little to do with chance and luck and more to do with careful planning. A potential homebuyer will always be more impressed with a home that’s in a state of good repair, looks presentable, neat and clean. Here are some ways in which you can prepare when selling your home.

 

  1. It’s important to set your personal attachment aside

If you have lived in a particular home for a long time, it isn’t easy to let go. There will be memories attached to that place and you will have decorated and maintained the place with care. But it’s important that you make the break and here are some tips on how to do it:

  • Tell yourself that it isn’t your home and that it’s a house; something that can be bought or sold, much like products you would buy at a supermarket.
  • Be firm with that “let go” decision and focus on the fact that the house won’t be yours any longer.
  • Visualize yourself handing over the keys and the warranties for all the appliances to the new owners.
  • It’s important that you look into the future rather than a glance into the past.

 

  1. De-personalize all the rooms

Remove all your family heirlooms and personal photographs and memorabilia as these can distract the buyers. The idea is to allow buyers to imagine all their belongings in that space as that takes them one step closer to buying a home. The buyers need to see themselves living there versus wondering what kind of people live in the house.

 

  1. Clear all the clutter

This is a very crucial aspect of preparing to sell your home. It’s natural for us to collect things and not be able to discard them even after they are no longer required. The simple rule to follow is that if you haven’t used a certain item in over a year, its best to get rid of it. You have the option to either throw it away or donate it to someone. Some of the other things you can do are:

  • Pack up the knickknacks
  • Remove all the books from bookcases
  • Clean everything off the kitchen counters.
  • Put all the essential items in small boxes and put them away in the closet.

 

  1. Rearrange storage cabinets & bedroom closets

Buyers often open closet and cabinet doors randomly while walking through the house. When all these spaces are well-organized, the message it sends to a potential buyer is that you are equally particular about taking care of the rest of the house too. Some of the things you can do include:

  • Stack all the dishes neatly.
  • Alphabetize all the spice jars in the pantry and kitchen.
  • Hang shirts together- facing the same direction.
  • Turn all coffee cup handles facing the same direction.
  • Line up all your shoes properly in the closet.

 

  1. Consider keeping extra items in a storage unit

Most homes show better when they have fewer pieces of furniture. It’s a good idea to move the extra pieces of furniture into a temporary storage unit and only keep the basic ones. This will open up and improve the movement flow in the spaces and make the rooms look more spacious. The furniture you keep should only showcase the purpose of that room, yet leave sufficient space to move around comfortably.

 

  1. Replace or remove favourite pieces

If there are certain built-in appliances, features, fittings or window treatments that you want to take, it’s best to remove them when you are prepping your home for sale. If there are antique pieces or items that you are emotionally attached to, replace them with something else. That way you won’t have to tell a buyer it isn’t for sale. Sometimes, denying a buyer an item they have taken fancy to can blow the deal. This is why it’s best to either replace or remove those items if necessary.

 

  1. Conduct minor repairs

In a seller’s market, it’s possible to sell a property in the condition it is in without too much of a hassle. But in a buyer’s market, the state of the features and installations in your home can make or break the sale. Based on the condition of the house, some of the repairs you may want to conduct include:

  • Patch holes in drywall.
  • Replace cracked floor tiles.
  • Replace kitchen and bathroom wall tiles.
  • Fix leaking faucets.
  • Fix doors that jam or don’t close properly
  • Fix kitchen drawers that jam.
  • Consider giving your walls a fresh coat of paint- opt for neutral colours especially if you have eccentric taste in colours and décor.
  • Replace dysfunctional light bulbs.
  • Replace worn bedspreads.

 

  1. Get your house cleaned thoroughly

When you are listing your house for sale, you need to ensure that every nook and cranny of it is clean. Since this can be a pretty laborious task, consider hiring house cleaning professionals for the job. Some of the things that need to be focused on include:

  • Clean the windows inside & out.
  • Clean out cobwebs.
  • Pressure-clean the driveway, sidewalks and the exterior walls of your home.
  • Polish mirrors and chrome faucets.
  • Re-caulk tubs, showers, and sinks.
  • Vacuum daily.
  • Clean out the refrigerator.
  • Replace worn rugs.
  • Wax wooden floors.
  • Dust the furniture, ceiling fans & light fixtures.
  • Bleach dingy grout.
  • Hang up clean, fresh towels.
  • Get rid of bad odours in all the rooms.

 

  1. Enhance curb appeal

You need to ensure that buyers are encouraged to get out of their cars and walk into your home. This means you need to focus on enhancing its curb appeal. You can do this by:

  • Making the front door and entrance area look welcoming; clean the space, paint/polish the front door, hang or place potted plants around the front door.
  • Make sure all window treatments in the house hang level.
  • Keep the sidewalks clear of clutter.
  • Mow the lawns & trim the hedges.
  • Paint faded/deteriorated window trim.
  • Ensure visitors can read your house number clearly from the street.

 

The one way to get all aspects of preparing a home right is to hire staging professionals for the job. They have the expertise to prep and stage your home so that buyers see it in the best light. ASK AMINA! Nobody does Real Estate better. Get started with a FREE HOME EVALUATION today!