10 Smart Moves to Make Before Listing Your Home on the Market (VIDEO)
Deciding to sell your home on the real estate market is a major life decision. This is not only because you want to get what your house is worth but also because you want to get as much as possible. Did you know that there are some things you can do before putting your home on the market that can make it sell for much more money?
Most homeowners don’t know this and they lose out on thousands of dollars when it comes time to sell their homes. In this article, we’ll give you ten tips on what you can do to prep a home for sale. To make sure that you get the most out of it – and even sell your home much more quickly.
1. Curbside Appeal
Boosting your home’s curbside appeal is one of the key ways to both sell it faster and for more money. What does curbside appeal mean? It could be a new paint job, a trim that makes the details pop, new hardware, a freshly paved driveway, some landscaping, and even improved outdoor lighting.
You want to fix any nagging issues and clean up the general appearance of the outside of your home as well as update it for current buyer tastes. This can be a relatively cheap or expensive proposition and you’ll want to focus on things like repairs and painting before you move to more complex things like landscaping. The idea is to get more for your house, not to spend more on it before you sell it.
2. Organizations and Cleanliness
Clean, organize, repaint, and even redo areas of your home that are showing wear and age. When buyers come to visit your home, they especially pay attention to things like the state of your kitchen and bathroom. You want these places to shine but you also want your floors and walls to look great. Also, any outdated hardware might need to be replaced.
You’ll be surprised at how little you actually will spend to update and revivify your home. It could not only help you get more money but also sell it faster because it eliminates issues and “reasons” for the buyer to say “no.”
How to Add Curb Appeal on a Budget – Video
3. Packing Away Clutter
Packing away clutter doesn’t just mean that you organize and clean your home. It might also mean putting things into storage including furniture. The reason behind this is that you are not showing a home as it is lived in but rather setting a stage for a buyer to imagine themselves living in your home. It is harder to do that if it is disorganized and shows all of the signs of current occupancy.
4. Painting
Painting and updating your general decor is one of the more effective ways to make your house more appealing before putting it on the real estate market. Most real estate experts suggest neutral, clean colors and avoid anything very trendy or avant-garde.
Again, the idea is to present the buyer with a canvas upon which they can paint their vision of living there. The easier it is for them to imagine this, the more likely they are to buy your home.
5. Small Repairs
Small repairs do two things for a potential buyer: They eliminate reasons to look for another house and they indicate care and concern on the current owners’ part. It isn’t that buyers can’t “fix it themselves,” it is the fact that many buyers worry about the larger issues that might be lurking in the background.
After all, if you struggle to maintain your home in little ways who is to say you haven’t ignored larger issues?
6. Update the Lighting
Updating the lighting can help you “cast” your home in a whole new light. If you’ll pardon the expression, highlighting its best features as well as bringing everything up to current standards.
From making everything environmentally friendly to making sure it helps you stage your home in the most optimal way possible. Lighting should never be disregarded in the prep for getting your home ready for market.
7. Windows
From curtains to frames, you want to make sure your windows help the rest of your house shine. This could be as complex as updating them to make them more efficient at retaining heat in the winter to updating the framing to make them look fresh and new.
8. Table Settings
Again, the idea is not to show a home that you live in right now but rather a vision of a home. One way to catch the eye and make a dining room. Or another room – pop is some kind of decor like a table setting. You’ll want something clean, simple, and elegant as the idea is to open up the buyer’s mind to the possibilities your home has. As such, you’ll want to avoid anything too loud or garish.
9. Remove Ordinary Items
From trashcans to pet bowls, you’ll want to make your home look like no one lives there. Some experts even recommend taking things like family photos away. All of this is about creating an ambiance and a smooth path for the buyer to see themselves living in your home.
For some reason, little reminders that it is currently occupied, like a trash can, seem to break the magic you’re trying to cast as they tour your home. After all, there’s a huge difference between checking out someone else’s home and considering the purchase of a property.
10. Landscaping
Of course, you’ll want your lawn cut and your hedges trimmed, but you might also want to add other things. Simple additions, like potted plants, can help give your home’s yard much more life than it currently has. Landscaping can be expensive so we don’t think you should go all out on this aspect but making it look nice and tidy is a great place to start.
