Are you in the process of selling your house but looking around looking at your house wondering,
Where do I even begin? What goes where? How do I make my house as appealing as possible so it’ll sell quickly?
Not to worry!
Selling your house might seem like a daunting and overwhelming task but it doesn’t have to be. Preparing your house to sell, also known as “staging”, can add increasing value to your property. Making an effort when it comes to preparing your house to sell is invaluable.
We’ve put together some things to keep in mind when you’re wondering how to get a house ready to sell.
Keep reading to find out!
Declutter vs De-Personalize
When you think about cleaning out your house and selling it, you might think that you need to get rid of everything.
Don’t.
When people are looking to buy a home, they’ll want to envision themselves in it for the years to come. If you get rid of everything that makes your home your home, people won’t be able to envision themselves in it.
Get rid of excess things that seem like clutter and don’t add to your personal touch on the house. Put knick knacks and unnecessary things into storage or donate them to local charities.
Think of this staging as a resume and the people coming to look at your house are a potential employer. You want to show them your best qualities and capabilities.
Do the same with your house! Establish a cohesive theme that flows throughout the entire house. This will help people buy into the vision of their dream home and essentially hire your house!
Create Curb Appeal
A term widely used in the real estate field is “curb appeal”. In a nutshell, this term is used to explain how appealing it is from a street view. Your curb appeal is your calling card when it comes to selling your house.
Is your lawn well maintained? Does your paint look fresh and vibrant? Is your siding all in one piece?
If you don’t know the status of your house’s curb appeal, walk out your front door and to the street. Take a good long look. Does your house stand out from the rest in a good way?
If not, put some dedicated time and effort into landscaping and updating and the front of your house. Another easy way to do this is to give your front door a fresh coat of paint.
Go with something bright and cheery to make your home pop and stand out from the rest.
Make the Repairs
After you’ve decluttered your house, its time to look inwards. Not inwards of yourself but inwards of your home.
Are there any minor repairs that need to be taken care of? Do you have holes in walls that need patching? Broken doorknobs or cracked floor tiles?
Before showing and staging your home to potential buyers make sure all of these minor repairs have been made. It’s typical that when people come to look at potential homes, they’d like the home to be move-in ready.
Nothing screams “I’m not move-in ready” like chipped floor tiles, broken doorknobs and chipping paint.
Be proactive and take care of these little repairs to sell your house in a quick and effective manner.
The Kitchen & the Bathroom
It’s common for buyers to make their final decision when looking at the kitchen and the bathroom. If you’ve got a budget for some bigger repairs and updates, it would be best to focus your efforts in these two rooms.
Give these two rooms a new coat of fresh paint. Retile the bathroom. Add a backsplash to your kitchen walls.
The kitchen is the most valuable room in the entire house and is worth the most per square foot. While updates in this room may be more costly, in the long run they’ll increase the house’s value the most.
A great way to increase this value is to resurface your kitchen counters or update your cabinetry.
On your fancy new counters make sure there aren’t any bulky appliances. To show off your new counter space, make it simple and put a bowl of fruit or a small plant on the counter to add color.
Strategic Decorating
There are ways in which you can decorate your home to make it more inviting and comfortable.
A good rule of thumb when staging a house is to place and chose furniture in which the room looks bigger. Just like your counter space and avoiding bulky appliances, in living spaces you’ll need to avoid bulky pieces of furniture.
Wall mirrors can also make rooms like much bigger than they actually are. These can be most useful in small rooms and hallways, giving the illusion that there is more space than meets the eye.
If you’ve got dark corners in rooms that can’t be touched by natural light, consider lamps that add extra illumination.
Clean House
People are coming to view your house so we feel that this tip should be a given. Go through your house and do the deepest cleaning you’ve ever done.
Every surface in your house should shine like the top of the Chrysler building. Wax the floors, hang fresh towels and get rid of all odors. Bad smells are one of the biggest turnoffs to potential buyers.
When planning on showing your house, it’s best to take care of odors well in advance of the actual date. Don’t try to mask the smell but actually take care of the source and issue.
If you’re a smoker, get rid of any porous furniture and materials that might be holding onto that smell. Clean out drains, trash cans and wash any dingy linens.
Right before a prospective buyer comes to view your home, consider lighting a candle or brewing a pot of coffee.
How to Get a House Ready to Sell
There you go!
Everything you need to know and keep in mind when figuring out how to get a house ready to sell. We hope these tips and tricks have been helpful in explaining how to prepare to sell your house with increased value and at a fast rate.
If you’ve still got questions, send them our way! We’d love to help go into more depth with you about your specific staging and selling questions.