Selling Your Home

When it is coming time to build your new home there are plenty of stresses including selling the home you are in now. You’ll want your current home to sell quickly and top dollar. This doesn’t just happen with luck but if you put in some work at the beginning you’ll certainly be glad you did. And lucky for you there are a few steps that you can take that will help. First things first, Declutter! When a buyer is looking for their new house they want to be able to see themselves in the house which can be very hard to do when there is clutter. Pack up all excess decorations, kids’ toys, out of season clothing or furniture pieces that clutter each room. Decluttering will make your home, rooms and closets look bigger and thus more appealing. You should also take down personal photos and memorabilia from the walls and other places you may have them. This will give the potential buyer the ability to see themselves in the house rather than thinking about the last family that has lived there. This can be a hard step since you will essentially be detaching yourself and your family from the home but just think of how great it will be to put all your family photos and favorite memories up on the walls of your newly built home that was made just for you! Other places to make sure are declutters would be: the kitchen and bathroom counters, walk-in closets and pantries, and the laundry room. As you declutter different areas you can donate the things you don’t need any longer and pack away those that you won’t need until after the move (A storage unit can be great to hold your personal and unneeded item between selling your home and moving into your next one). Make Minor Repairs. You don’t need to take on anything too big at this busy time in your life but you can at least fix a few things that could really improve your chances of selling your home at top dollar. Things like fixing a broken piece of tile or a door that doesn’t shut properly can definitely help. These are items that won’t take you very long to do but will seem like one more chore on the list of to-dos for a potential buyer. When making the minor repairs in your home you may want to think about the paint colors in your home as well. Pick a few neutral colors that work well together and give each room a fresh new look. Your daughter may have lover her bright pink room but to could be a turn off for buyers. Next Step, Reorganize and Rearrange. Look through each room in your home and see if maybe there is a better way to arrange the furniture. This could mean making the furniture in the living room to let the fireplace be the focal point of the room, or moving the furniture and organizing in the kid’s room to appeal to more than just a 6 year old who wants as much floor space as possible for his racecars and Legos. At this time you can again address the possible of still having too many pieces of furniture in your home. A home always sells better with an open and airy feel. You won’t want to stop the rearranging and organizing in just the rooms either. Buyers can be a bit snoopy when it comes to looking through a home. They will open kitchen cupboards and bedrooms closets. If they see that they are messy and dysfunctional it will put a damper on their excitement of the home and they could make the assumption that you may not have taken great care with the rest of the home as well, but if the closets are clean and organized they can assume you’ve taken that much care with the rest of the house as well. CLEAN, CLEAN, CLEAN! Make sure to make your house sparkle and shine by cleaning, as most mom’s would say, every nook and cranky. You’ll want to start in one room and make sure you finish it before moving onto the next. This will help ensure that you don’t miss anything by getting distracted with the next ten projects you need to work on. In the bathrooms you will want to make sure everything is cleaned to best of your ability. Scrub the grout, clean the inside of the toilets with a pumice stone with they have a hard water build up, and even make sure the tops of the baseboards are wipes clean before buyers come to see your home. These, along with the normal bathroom cleaning routine can certainly make the bathrooms look better. Also, make sure to dust cupboards, side tables, bookshelves and anything else in your home that collects dirt and grime. You don’t want a small layer of dust to make a buyers allergies worse as they walk through your home. When getting rid of dust and dirt you can’t forget about the carpets! If you don’t own a carpet cleaner get a professional to come and clean your carpets for you. This will make your carpet look and feel so much better while also getting rid of dust and allergens that have been trapped there. Don’t forget the outside. The outside of the house is the first thing people will see when they come to see your home so don’t miss the opportunity for a great first impression. Remove any shrubs or plants that take make the yard look cluttered and outdated. Spend some time weeding and replanting the flower beds and make sure the lawn is mowed and trimmed nicely. If you have a power washer you can spray off the outside of your home to remove dirt and cobwebs. And if the siding is really need of a new coat of paint you can look into local places for pricing to see if it might be worth it. Make the open house special. Now that your house is decluttered and the outside is looking clean and inviting you are almost ready for an open house. There are just a few last minute thing you can do to really seal the deal with the presentation of your home. - Hang clean towels in the bathroom and kitchen. - Clean all the windows and mirrors in your home. - Make your home smell great but don’t use more than one scent! You can either light one light smelling candle (vanilla can be a great option) or bake some fresh chocolate chip cookies before the open house to fill the house with a comforting and homey smell. - Stage the different areas of your home. Do this by placing a tray on the coffee table of the living room with a few magazines and the remote and add a few vases of fresh flowers around the home. By taking the time to complete these steps you can great increase the chances of selling your home quickly and at top dollar!