The BobHaywood.com Blog: Preparing Your Home For Sale

Are you getting ready to put your home on the market and want to know what you can do to help your Realtor sell your home?  Below are some ideas that will get your house looking neat and ready for potential buyers to walk through.

1.  Reduce the amount of furniture you have in a room.  You want the home to have a large floor area and all doorways and halls to be open and clear. 

2.  Get rid of clutter.  The photos that you cherish and are hung throughout your home are a distraction to future buyers.  They want to imagine themselves in the house and not what kind of family currently lives there.  Remove knick knacks from counters and shelves and throw away or hide magazines.  Begin packing and store boxes in a storage unit or in your attic or donate to a good cause.

3.  Repaint those colorful walls.  Create a neutral canvas for buyers, paint walls an off white or light beige color.  You may have loved that bright orange in your kitchen and adorable pink in your little girls room, however, it's time to paint and create a generic look for future buyers.  Paint is cheap and will make a huge difference when your home is on the market.  It will look fresh and clean with a good coat of paint.

4.  Organize closets.  Buyers want to look in every door and sometimes the cabinets as well.  Take a day or two to throw away, donate or pack items that you aren't using.  Closets can get very cluttered and you want to show off your storage space as it is a great asset to your home.

5.  Put valuables in a safe deposit box or in a hidden safe.  Remember that strangers will be coming into your home to view.  Don't put your grandma's wedding ring or your rare baseball cards in drawers or counters where people can take them. 

6.  Make your home sparkle. Keep your home as tidy as possible by vacuuming, dusting, keeping dishes out of the sink, hang fresh towels in the bathroom, get your windows washed, dust fan blades, replace worn out rugs, remove cobwebs.

7.  Do the sniff test.  If you made fish the night before you may want to open some windows and boil a pot of water with some cinnamon sticks, light a candle or bake some cookies. 

8.  Do some minor repairs.  Fix leaky faucets, replace old grout, put some W2 on squeeky hinges, replace any burnt out bulbs, repair holes in drywall, remove wallpaper, etc.  Walk into each room and really look around to see what you can do to repair anything that is visible.

9.  Check your curb appeal.  The first impression your buyers will have begins before they ever enter your front door.  Lure them in with fresh planted flowers, neatly trimmed bushes, green and well manicured lawns, clean sidewalks and patios and clean exterior paint.  Make sure your address is easy to read from a car.

10.  Recruit your Realtor or best friend to do a walk through and give any advice after you have completed the previous 9 items.  Everyone sees things differently and they may have some great advice on something that was overlooked. 

Doing these 10 things will be the best things you can do to get your home sold quickly after you have decided on a competitive listing price.