Preparing your home for sale

You’ll want your home to sell fast and at the best price. In order
to make that happen, consider the presentation of your home.
It’s best to plan ahead and set your home for visual appeal to entice potential buyers.

Here is how to prepare your house into a desirable and
marketable home.

1. Disassociate Yourself With Your Home. As you will be
   moving on, it's best to think of the house as no longer yours,
   but soon to belong to another. This will help you let go of the
   house and prepare it for its sale and for the next owner.
   
   
2. De-Personalize. Remove your photographs so that the
   potential buyer can envision the home with their artifacts.
   It will give them a chance to think of the home as theirs,
   not yours.
   
   
3. De-Clutter! Make your home a presentable showcase,
   free of unnecessary items that may be a distraction to
   a buyer.
   
   
4. Rearrange Bedroom Closets and Kitchen Cabinets.
   A neatly sorted closet or cabinets will give the impression
   that you've taken care of your home, a great selling point
   for the buyer to consider.
   
   
5. Rent a Storage Unit. You should store excessive furniture
   in offsite. The less furniture for the buyer to walk around,
   the better.  Consider how the room appears larger when
   you’ve taken out extra leaves of a dining room table.
   
   
6. Remove/Replace Favorite Items. You won’t want to
   disappoint a buyer when they learn that they can’t have
   that precious vase that you intend to keep. 
   Basic rule:  don’t show what is not part of the deal.
   
   
7. Make Minor Repairs. Patch holes in any walls, fix all doors
   and drawers. Maybe a fresh coat of paint, in a neutral color.
   
   
8. Make the House Sparkle! A clean home makes a desirable
   home. Don’t forget to put out fresh towels in the bathroom
   and remove old, smelly items from the refrigerator.
   
   
9. Scrutinize.Take an objective look around your home, even
   outside. Consider the first impression that any buyer will
   get from a first glance.  Remove those things that distract
   from your home’s appeal and fix anything that is broken.
   
   
10. Check Curb Appeal. This is your first change to make a
    favorable impression of your home. An attractive exterior
    will get the buyer out of their car and into your house for
    a further review. Freshen up the landscape and keep the
    sidewalks clean and free of debris.
    
    

Staging Your Property

 

After you prepared your home, the next step involves making the right presentation; Staging your home.

The advantages of staging your home are that it will make it look bigger, warming and more inviting and will entice a buyer to choose your property over any others.  A properly staged home will present the right atmosphere, encouraging a vested interest in the home and will let the buyer see themselves as the new owner.

You can make the effort to stage your home, or you can hire a professional home stager.

What is a Professional Home Stager?
Home Staging is professionally preparing homes for sale, so that they appeal to the most amount of buyers and generate the highest price in the least amount of time on market. More than preparing a home, it involves detailing and preparing the home in the best appearance.