It’s a fact: De-cluttered, clean and staged homes sell quicker and for more money. That’s your goal, right? So, let’s get started preparing your home for the market.
Start outside
You’ve most likely heard about the concept of curb appeal; it’s your home’s first impression. Make yours the best it can be by cleaning, fixing or replacing anything unsightly in your home’s exterior.
Remove the cobwebs from around the porch light, clean and paint the gutters, replace torn screens and wash the windows. Then, tackle the landscaping, removing dead or tattered plants, greening up and mowing the lawn and spreading fresh mulch in the beds.
When you’re finished, stand back and look at the home through a buyer’s eyes because what you’ve just accomplished should compel them out of the car and through your front door.
The home’s interior
All that curb appeal has raised the buyers’ expectations, so don’t let them down – get to work on the interior of the home. What you do here depends on your budget. Even the tiniest of budgets, however, will go a long way in making the home more appealing.
First, consider that we all have five senses and address what buyers will sense in your home. Start with odors (get rid of them). Carpet, draperies and upholstered furniture grab onto and hold odors, so having them professionally cleaned is half the battle.
If the neighbor has a yapping dog, consider leaving soft music playing when buyers are going to tour the home.
Finally, the sense of sight: just what will potential buyers see when they walk into your home? If it’s piles of dishes in the sink, laundry strewn throughout the living room and paperwork stacked on the kitchen counter, you have some work to do.
If you don’t have the time or energy to clean the home until it’s immaculate, do consider taking us up on our offer of a complimentary house cleaning. Buyers perceive clean homes as move-in-ready and will pay a premium for that.
Don’t forget the repairs we mentioned in the last section. Now is the time to get those out of the way.
Finally, we believe so strongly in the power of home staging that we offer the services of an accredited staging professional to our listing clients. She will tour your home and offer advice about how to ready the home to appeal to a broad range of buyers. The staging itself is on us – that’s right – complimentary. This includes design, delivery, set-up, one month of furniture rental and de-staging fees.