Vicki L MorrisonIf you are putting your home on the market, there are some tried and true ways to sell faster. Follow these inexpensive and easy tips and you’ll be selling before you know it.
1. Lighten Up
Light will make your space look larger. Open the drapes and the blinds when showing your home. If a room is shadowy, lacking windows, or in the basement turn on the lights. Ensure all the light fixtures have new bright bulbs. If there are bushes outside a window, give them a trim. Let the light in.
2. Pet Appeal
Love cats and dogs? Not everyone does. No one wants to smell Fido or Felix when they walk into a house for the first time. Make sure the kitty litter is well hidden and hide the food and water bowls before a showing. Make sure to check corners for pet hair. Don’t leave a potential Buyer with the impression your house is not clean. If possible find a pet daycare where your critters can stay. Then you won’t worry about them escaping out the door while the showing is happening, and there is no chance Fido will nip the Buyers.
3. Take the Skeletons Out of the Closet
When Buyers walk through your home, they are going to poke around and snoop in closets, and this is perfectly acceptable. Make sure they find half-empty closets. Neatly organize what’s left. They’ll be left with the impression there is plenty of room for all that they would like to store in the space.
4. All That Glitters
Buyers want to see a clean home. They don’t want to think about moving in to a place they will have to clean from top to bottom before they can even move their boxes in. Start at the top and chase the cobwebs out, clean light fixtures to a shine, wipe down walls and clean up scuffs on paint. Then tackle the floors. Hire a carpet cleaning company or rent the machine and clean them yourself if your carpets need it. Clean windows inside and out too. Make it shine!
5. Little Changes Make a Big Difference
Upgrading the entire kitchen or bath right before you put your home on the market is risky. Chances are you won’t get your money back. Instead, do updates that will pay off and get you top dollar. Get a new fresh coat of paint on the walls. Wash curtains or go buy some inexpensive new ones. You can also replace door handles and hardware with more modern pieces. Make sure closet doors are on track because Buyers will be peeking inside. Tighten leaky faucets and clean the grout in the bathroom and around the kitchen counter.
6. Make Your Home a House
Depersonalizing a home is not always easy, but it’s a great way to give Buyers a chance to imagine their things in your home. Not everyone will appreciate the artwork your three-year-old made you or the photographs of your last trip to Grandma’s house on the wall. The general rule is try to get rid of one-third of your stuff and put it in storage.
7. All the World’s a Stage
There are ways to depersonalize, ways to declutter and there are ways to stage a home. If you don’t have a knack for arranging furniture in a way that improves your space ask your real estate agent for advice, hire a stager or read-up on how to make the most your space in Canadian Military Family Magazine.
8. It’s a Kitchen Party!
I’ve said it many times, “You’re really just selling your kitchen. That’s how important it is.” Neutral paint, clean cupboards, new hardware, and tidy shelves are important. Make sure the counter surface is clear so the Buyer can imagine their small appliances on it. Clean the oven too. Even if you aren’t leaving the oven behind. Buyers will look in it and be left with an impression of a clean home.
9. You Never Get a Second Chance…
Curb appeal is important. Declutter the outside of your home as well. Put kids toys and bikes away. Buy a pot or two of flowers and place them beside doorways. If your driveway is paved sweep it off, and touch up any scuffs on the paint around entryways and doors.
Once people come inside the front entryway and closet should be clean and clear. There should be one fresh scent in the air, not a mixture of several cleaners and deodorizers. Vanilla is popular, but if you can get away with no scent that’s best.
Strategically placed fresh flowers are lovely. Some people argue Buyers may have allergies if you are concerned about this place a bowl of fresh fruit in the kitchen.
10. It’s Showtime!
Get the entire family in on this. Unless you are able to run home at the drop of a hat to get the house ready every morning the beds should be made, the dishes put in the dishwasher and the clothes and clutter tidied up before you leave the house. People on House Hunting Trips (HHTs) often make last minute decisions to go and view a house. There is no time to waste on an HHT. If you have to put the showing off there is a chance they will cancel and view another house.
As told to Vicki L. Morrison by Tracy McHale, real estate agent, Usher Real Estate, Ottawa.
