We are beginning a busy Spring Market here in the Lafayette Area. Homes sell quickly if they are priced right and show nicely. If you live in a show home and your house is always perfectly tidy, bless you and I hate you a little bit. For those of us with kids, pets, and spouses, preparing your house to sell takes some effort. If you follow the advice below your house will show its best.
Declutter Think less is more. Leave only essential pieces of furniture in your house. You want your home to be open and have plenty of space for buyers to walk. Those few pieces of furniture should not have stuff on them. No piles of magazines, multiple charging cords, or excessive décor. Keep the look simple and clean.
Depersonalize Remove all personal items from the walls including family pictures and diplomas. Do you know what I do when I show a house that has family pictures on the wall? I bee-line it to those pictures to see if I know them. You do not want this! You want buyers to picture themselves in your house, not picture you in your house.
Organize Clean out and organize cabinets and closets. Buyers will go through your closets and cabinets. If your closets and cabinets are stuffed, it will give the impression that the home doesn’t have enough storage. If you need to box up items, it is completely appropriate to store them neatly in the garage. If you have a lot of stuff, you may want to consider renting a storage unit.
Fix items that are broken or missing If a buyer comes into your house and sees broken or missing items, they will think that your house isn’t well cared for. This is a red flag for many buyers. A couple weeks ago I showed an amazing house that should have sold on day 1. But the house was missing kitchen cabinet doors and switch plate covers. Yes, there was a note saying the doors were on order, but it didn’t show nicely as a result. Switch plate covers are less than a dollar! In order to sell, the seller had to do a price reduction on the house, after a week on the market, and didn’t get top dollar on their house because the home looked like it wasn’t well cared for. Take the time and effort to correct all the items that need correcting before you list your house so a buyer is willing to pay top dollar!
Neutralize and/or touch up paint If your home is not a neutral color palette, please consider painting, especially the common areas. If you don’t want to repaint, touch up paint if there are dings, fingerprints, or scuffs. Hopefully, you still have the original paint in the garage.
Clean and eliminate odors A clean house is a happy house. By eliminating odors, such as animal, food, or smoking, you are depersonalizing the air, so to speak. Clean carpets, clean the house, clean the windows, clean everything. If you need to hire a cleaning crew, please do it. You are more likely to get top dollar if your house is clean and move in ready.
If you do all these things, your house should sell quickly and for top dollar. If you need help staging, this is a service that The Alexander Group provides at no additional cost. We have a large storage unit full of furniture and staging items just waiting to help you!
