Step 2) Preparing your house for sale

preparation to sell house

When you are preparing your house for sale it can be hard to get a perspective on your own home. Try to look at it, imagining that you are the potential buyer.
What is your first impression?
Does anything need to be cleaned, painted, repaired, tossed out to make your house more attractive?

First Impressions Count

The first impression of your house is the most important. Walking into a house with fingerprinted screen door windows or cluttered entranceways can influence the potential homebuyer's decision.
Likewise, strong odors can ruin a sale, so pay close attention to pet, cooking, and cigarette smell in your house.
Whether it's staging, fluffing things up a bit, decorating and or de-cluttering, try and keep it neutral.
A contemporary and minimalist space with a limited number of personal items appeal to most buyers and ensures the best results.

Below is a list of simple strategies to prepare your house for sale
using cost-effective and non-invasive methods:

Keep it Clean

Cleaning

Cleaning is the most inexpensive and most effective option for preparing your house for sale.

A house that is easy to navigate, that gleams with cleanliness will be miles ahead of similar properties that are less well-cared for.
A clean house sends a message to potential buyers that the house is well cared for and is one of the most effective sell techniques that you can utilize, so keep it clean!

Remove Clutter and De-Personalize

We all have too much stuff, and too much stuff can be distracting to potential buyers. When preparing your house for sale, you want to eliminate as much clutter as possible.

De-cluttering is not converting your house into an empty space, it is selectively pruning anything that distracts buyers from seeing what they are getting with your house.

It's also important to neutralize your space as much as possible so potential buyers can see themselves living in your house and that means putting away personal photos, mementos, knick-knacks, and collections.
Decluttering and de-personalizing have always been an effective way to prepare a house for sale.

The goal is to help potential buyers to envision your house as their house and I can help you with this.

Freshen Things Up

Adding a fresh coat of paint on walls or on scuffed or chipped trim and laying new carpet will clean and brighten up your house.

Ensure that the decor of your house is modern and tasteful.
Use neutral tones on walls and floors and add color with removable items such as throw pillows or bedding.

Should you Stage your house?

Nobody is fooled by clever staging that camouflages worn-out systems and appliances. Staging a house can be tricky and stressful for seniors and families with children and pets.

It takes time, effort, and money to stage a house and if you are living in a staged house while it's for sale and being shown to potential buyers, you may have to get used to living in a decorated space that needs to look picture-perfect on short notice.

In terms of staging and interior decorating my clients only seek professional help about 20% of the time.

Believe it or not, that's just the hard work on behalf of the sellers who are committed to following my cleaning, fluffing, and de-cluttering.

Steps for Selling your house:

Step 1) Consultation and Market evaluation

Step 2) Preparing to sell

Step 3 Marketing Plan

Step 4) Listing your property for sale

Step 5) Reviewing and accepting an offer

Step 6) Closing the sale