In this competitive market, it is very important that a home be ready to be placed on the market. Here are a few suggestions to ensure you have a fast home sale and get the highest dollar amount possible:
1. Curb Appeal. A potential buyer will make up his/her mind in the first 30 seconds if they want to buy your home. This makes the outside of your home very important, so please have the grass cut, replace the front door mat, place new flowers on either side of the front door, paint the fence, and hose off the walk way.
2. House Number. Make sure a potential buyer can see the house number from the street. If the house number is being blocked by a tree, either move the number or trim the tree. Also, leave a light on your house number all the time. If your home is being advertised, potential buyers may drive by before coming to an open house -- lets make sure they can locate your house.
3. Clean. Your home needs to be very, very clean. You may want to consider hiring a cleaning service and have them focus on the kitchen and bathrooms. The bathrooms should have all the toothbrushes put away, the garbage can needs to be placed away, the damp bath mat needs to go away, the shower doors need to shine. The kitchen counters need to be cleaned off, leave only the bare minimum of essentials, and never leave dirty dishes. Also, clean off any stuff that is on top of your refrigerator.
4. Basic Repairs. Please make sure any basic home repairs are fixed before an open house. This can turn off a potential buyer, even if it is a very minor repair. Remember our goal is to sell this home quickly and for the most money. You may want to consider freshening up some wall paint as well, but remember to keep the colors neutral (beige, sage green, off-white).
5. Smell. Make sure the inside of your home smells clean and fresh. If you have pets, please put them away somewhere in the home or see if a friend can take them for the afternoon of your open house. Also, if you smoke, please try and start smoking outside when your house is on the market. You should air our your home the morning (even the night before) of your open house. I like to recommend the scent of citrus or vanilla for homes to my clients. Please stay away from lavender, this makes people sleepy and we want them away during your open house.
6. Lighting. Please turn on every light in your house during an open house and open every blind. We want the potential buyers to see what they are buying. Please make sure all your lighting fixtures have the highest allowable light bulb installed. You can also consider bringing in some additional desk and floor lighting.
7. Family pictures. I know you love your family, but all your family pictures need to be packed away. Your family pictures will distract buyers from your home and we do not want this to happen. Family photos can be replaced with generic art.
8. De-clutter. Remove all the clutter that you can before your open house. I would suggest removing about 50% of what you have on your bookcases and your children's toys. Also, no children's toys should be left on the living room floor, all toys need to go back to the bedrooms and can be placed in decorative chests.
9. Digital Pictures. Once all the above work is done have your Realtor or home stager take pictures of your home to be placed online so your can further market your home. This is critical today, since over 85% of buyers start their home search online.
Good luck with your home sale!
-Kate
