Preparing and staging a house. Every seller wants to sell your home fast and get the best price. Is that OK with you? Well, it’s not luck that makes that happen. It’s careful planning and knowing how to professionally spruce up your home that will send home buyers running for their checkbooks. Here is how to prepare a house and turn it into an irresistible and marketable home.
Here’s how:
1. Dissociate yourself with your home.
Tell yourself: “This is not my home, is a house – a product that sells very similar to a box of cereal on the shelf of a grocery store.
- Take the mental decision to “let go” of your emotions and focus on the fact that soon this house
- will no longer be yours.
- Imagine handing over the keys and envelopes containing appliance warranties to the new
- owners!
- Say goodbye to all rooms.
- Do not look backwards – look toward the future.
2. De-Personalize.
Pack up those personal photographs and family heirlooms. Buyers cannot see past personal artifacts, and do not want to be distracted. You want buyers to imagine their own photos on the walls, and cannot do that if yours is there! You do not want to make any buyer ask, “I wonder what kind of people live in this house?” You want buyers to say, “I see myself living here.”
3. De-Clutter!
People collect an amazing amount of trash. Consider this: if you have not used it in over a year, you may not need.
- If you do not need, why not donate or throw away?
- Remove all the books in his library.
- Packaging the goodies.
- Clean all counters in the kitchen.
- Put essential items used daily in a small box that can be stored in a closet when not in use.
Think of this as an advantage both on the packaging in the long run will have to do anyway.
4. Rearrange room cabinets and kitchen cabinets.
Buyers love to snoop and open your closet and cabinet doors. Think about the message it sends if items fall out! Now imagine what a buyer believes about you if she sees everything organized. It is said that probably take good care of the rest of the house too. This means:
- Alphabetize spice jars.
- Neat pile of dishes.
- Turn the handles of the coffee cup off the same way.
- Hang shirts together, buttoned and in the same direction.
- Line of shoes.
5. Rent a storage unit.
Almost every home shows better with less furniture. Remove furniture that block or hamper paths and walkways and put them in storage. Since your bookcases are now empty, store. Remove extra leaves in your dining room table to make the room appear larger. Leave enough furniture in each room to show purpose of the room and plenty of room to move. Do not want buyers scratching their heads and saying, “What is this room used for?”
6. Remove / replace favorite items.
If you want to take window coverings, built-in appliances or equipment with you, remove them now. If the chandelier in the dining room once belonged to her great grandmother, take it down. If a buyer never sees it, she does not want. Once you tell a buyer can not have a theme, she coveted, and could blow your deal. Pack those items and replace them if necessary.
7. Make minor repairs.
- Replace cracked floor or counter.
- Review of the holes in the walls.
- Fix leaky faucets.
- Fix doors that do not close properly and kitchen drawers that jam.
- Consider painting walls neutral colors, especially if the walls have grown accustomed to purple or pink.
(Do not give buyers any reason to remember the house as “the house with the orange bathroom.”) - Replace burned light bulbs.
If you’ve considered replacing a worn bedspread, do so now!
8. Make the brightness House!
- Wash windows inside and out.
- Rent a pressure washer and spray the sidewalks and exterior.
- Clean cobwebs.
- Re-caulk tubs, showers and sinks.
- Polish chrome faucets and mirrors.
- Clean the refrigerator.
- Vacuum daily.
- Wax floors.
- Dust furniture, ceiling fan blades and light fixtures.
- Bleach dirty grout.
- Replace the carpet.
- Hang towels.
- Bathroom towels look great tied with ribbon ties y.
Clean and air with a musty smell any area. Odors are a no-no.
9. Scrutinize.
Go outside and open the front door. Stand there. Want to join? Does the house welcome you?
- Stay in the door of every single room and imagine how your house will be a buyer.
- Examine carefully how furniture is arranged and move pieces to make sense.
- Make sure window coverings hang level.
- Connect to the declaration of the room and its emotional force. Do you have impact and dynamism?
Does it look like nobody lives in this house? You’re almost done.
10. Check Curb Appeal.
If a buyer is not going to leave the agent’s car because he does not like the exterior of your home, you’ll never get inside.
- Keep the sidewalks cleared.
- Paint faded window trim.
- Plant yellow flowers or group flower pots together. Yellow evokes a buying emotion. Marigolds are inexpensive.
- Trim your bushes.
- Make sure visitors can clearly read your house number.
More information about how to prepare your home for sale