Once you have decided to sell your home, the objective should be to SELL it, not just LIST it. Achieving the desired “Best Possible Price” might be improbable if the plan is to merely place a sign in the front yard, cross your fingers, eat right, and/or suddenly become very religious.
Presenting your home in appealing fashion can mean virtually anything from higher wattage light bulbs, improved decor, to accessory and furniture placement. Your mission is to create an environment that becomes easy for a perspective buyer to visualize living in the home. This new view begins with the exterior (people buy the outside first) and continues with compelling interior features that radiate a positive personality. Focus on little things that can make a big impact by simply using what you already have, adding to it, and making it more appealing. Complement the current architecture (don’t be trendy), and find ways to draw out your home’s best features. Homes that look attractive and are priced appropriately (compared to the competition), almost always sell in the most reasonable period of time and for the best dollars possible. Buyers are often sold within the first minute they walk up to and enter a home. AND sometimes the higher priced home is really the best deal. Staging your home enhances and improves the investment you’ve made a long time ago. For recommendations on locating a professional stager, ask your Realtor or check out Real Estate Staging Association online.
THE HOME “Front” – Landscape is not limited to the lawn and includes everything from the street to the front door… referred to as “Curb Appeal”. Factors influencing perspective buyers to either write down your address, or simply drive-by can include: sidewalks, the lawn, shrubs/bushes, mailbox/lamppost, fencing, the driveway, gutters/downspouts, trim paint, windows, front door, and the roof.
Focus on being objective while accentuating the natural maturity and charm of the home.
Other good tips include: adding sod, showcasing the front door with high gloss paint and new hardware, replacing house numbers, new front light fixture, clean windows, install a window flower box, and perhaps add awnings or shutters.
THE “INSIDE” VIEW – Nothing replaces the first moment you enter a home. DE-CLUTTER, DE-PERSONALIZE, and think LIGHT & BRIGHT! These are important tasks…AND they are free!
Don’t wait until after the sale to start packing. Smart sellers pretend they are actually going to be moving, and begin packing, giving things away, or disposing of all the unused wedding presents, leisure suits, bell bottoms, gold chain collections, and old bedspreads, towels, and books you wouldn’t pay 50 cents for at someone else’s garage sale.
Pet smell – no one loves your pet like you do, Shag carpet and flocked wall-paper are not making a comeback, Orange is good one day a year – Halloween. And if you can smell it…you can’t sell it (cigars, diapers, litter boxes, etc.)
Carefully introduce color with accessories (that move with you) such as freestanding lamps, new towels, rugs, table mats, and candles. Other value engineered ideas include polishing floors, shampoo carpet, dust light fixtures, shine stainless steel with baby oil or club soda, clean or apply grout paint, add sconces and under-cabinet lights, PAINT (increase sheen for brightness), paint cabinets/install hardware, and add a larger mirror in baths.
FINAL THOUGHTS – Interested buyers try to visualize themselves living in the home. Strong personal statements (political, religious, or multi-generational family pictures lining a staircase) make it less likely for buyers to feel comfortable, therefore less able to see the home as their own.
Remember, you are now in the “BUSINESS” to successfully sell a house. Once it is sold, you become that “romanced” buyer, in a buyer’s market, taking advantage of our reduced prices and brainless interest rates. — Steve Blank