1. Prepare yourself psychologically
When you decide to sell your home it is important that you face the psychological transition from the "Home" you love so much to the "home" you are trying to sell. This change, in simple terms, means letting go. The process of emotional detachment, an experience that all salespeople go through at one point or another. Home is where the heart resides. Houses like televisions, toasters and tangerines are commodities sold on the free market. You are now preparing to sell a house.
Getting your home ready for the market takes time. If you make the right improvements in preparing your property, you will see that it will increase the likelihood of it selling faster and at a higher price. Start the presale preparation process by hearing an objective opinion from an outside person who can point out both the strengths and weaknesses of your home. Real estate agents are an excellent source of advice on how you can best prepare your home for sale. Agents see with new eyes, they identify the most obvious defects more easily. Additionally, agents have the ability to look at your home the same way potential buyers will look at it. Agents are able to stage homes to make them more attractive to marketing, a process sometimes referred to as 'staging'.
2. The first impression: external improvements
The first impression is what counts. So before putting your home on the market make sure it looks its best both inside and out. Until recently, the idea of preparing a home for sale was unheard of. It was enough to put it up for sale, people would come to view and hopefully that would be enough to find someone willing to buy. But today's shoppers are prepared. They've watched TV shows on the subject, read magazines, and now they want to do it themselves. Most of them are people with little time available who aim not to commit too much time or money and therefore it is essential that your home presents itself in an attractive way from the first glance. There are a huge amount of refinements that can be made to get the best price for your property while making it as attractive as possible. The appearance of the front of your house, the one facing the street – what real estate agents call the “first impression from the street” – is the first thing potential buyers see and notice, and the impression is formed in the minds of the customers. people in the first 10 seconds: a scruffy exterior can derail a deal. It doesn't matter how well-designed and stylish the inside of the house is, because a prospective buyer usually feels that the exterior of the house is a mirror of the interior, and this could therefore be a cause of loss of potential buyers.
Here are some reliable ways to improve the first impression from the street of your home:
– Painting: Repainting the exterior of your home before putting it on the market is the biggest step in increasing your chances of getting a satisfying sale. White tones, grays and soft colors are the best choices for external facades. If your home doesn't need a new paint, at least touch up the window frames, front shutters, gutters and drains. Also, make sure your mailbox is in order and give your front door a fresh coat of paint, polish any brass or silver parts. The best colors for front doors are dark blue, bottle green, and black.
– Lawn: keep it well mowed, a well-kept lawn gives your home a particularly pleasant look. Make sure toys, gardening equipment and garden hoses aren't scattered everywhere. It is also advisable to make your lawn more lush and green by making sure you fertilize it appropriately.
– Sidewalks: Sweep your sidewalks daily. Keep them free of leaves in the fall.
– Plants: Remove or replace any dead or dying trees, hedges or shrubs, and prune anything that looks unkempt or intrusive. Cut back any shrubs that block windows and don't allow light to enter the house.
- Flowers: Fill flower beds with seasonal flowers, this is an inexpensive way to add color and charm to a property.
– Repairs: Make sure all gutters and drains are in place and clean. Replace missing or damaged shingles and tiles. Since the roof is an area that a prospective buyer is sure to examine in detail, it should be in as good condition as possible. Repair cracks in the driveway and remove large oil stains. Replace or repair broken ladders, torn screens, broken or missing fence posts, and faulty doorknobs. Make sure that front and back doors, garage doors, and all windows open easily. The shutters must function without problems. Check exterior lights to be sure they are working properly.
Windows: Keep windows spotless inside and out throughout your home (and replace any cracked glass). Gleaming windows give the immediate impression that the house has been treated well, while dusty or dirty windows block out the light and give the impression that the owner doesn't care about the house.
– Clutter: Eliminate all that is not necessary from the garage. Friends and family who live nearby can be a great source of temporary places to house excess items. If you can't clean the garage, at least keep the door closed. Try to keep the number of cars, trucks, boats, and RVs parked in front of your house to a minimum. Toys and bicycles for children must be stored in an orderly manner and garbage cans placed in a discreet corner.
If you can afford it, make your life easier by hiring a professional to help you with these matters. Your real estate agent can probably refer you to people who specialize in this type of work. Remember: these points are really the most important to allow you to sell your home at the best price.
3. Interior improvement
The outward appearance draws buyers into the home. The interior design makes the sale. The little things that are accomplished generally give the greatest increase in value. Focus on the basic three – clean up, erase, and cosmetic improvements. Potential buyers do not wish to imagine what lies beneath the clutter. Use fabrics, rugs, tablecloths, napkins, sofa cushions, curtains or drapes, bedspreads and quilts, towels, shower curtains, and so on – to create pops of colour. Unlike other more permanent improvements, you can invest in these items that you can take with you to your next home. You can also use floral arrangements to add bright splashes of color to rooms.
Take and store family photographs, children's paintings, collections of small ornaments and anything very personal. Leave only items that are relevant to that room: a nice vase or bowl for the living room; designer container bath oil and scented soap in the bathroom; beautiful china and fresh flowers in the dining room; decorative bottles of olive oil and balsamic vinegar for the kitchen.
– Clean, scrub and polish: Your stove, oven, refrigerator, microwave oven, and other appliances must be perfectly clean inside and out. Thoroughly clean walls, floors, bathtubs, showers, sinks until they shine. Don't forget to clean the ventilation hood in your kitchen.
– Eliminate odors: Buyers will notice strong odors as soon as they set foot in the house, especially eliminate smoke, mold and pet odors. Cleaning curtains and carpets will help get rid of odors. Remove the ash from the fireplace. Use air fresheners or citrus-scented potpourri to keep your home odor-free. Do the job yourself or hire someone to do it, make sure your home is spotless.
– Fix dripping faucets: If one of your sinks or bathtub doesn't drain properly, clean them up. Just as car buyers love to kick tires for testing, some home buyers like to test toilets and running water in sinks/bathtubs in homes in order to check drains and fixtures. Also check the radiators and heating system.
– Get rid of clutter: Eliminate clutter and excess furniture to make rooms appear larger. Remove, sell or give away bulky or surplus furniture. Having closet space makes the house sell for more. Clean and organize cabinets, bookcases, and drawers.
4. Give the house a “stage” look
If you've seen a blueprint for a new home or home builder presentation templates, you know exactly how you need to prepare your home. Builders usually do these jobs excellently. The "stage" is the final part of the process that started with the three basic interventions (clean up, erase, and aesthetic improvements). Here are some cool tips you can use to boost the appeal of your home:
– Unused rooms: clean the unused rooms, move the things you have stored there, uncover the furniture and arrange them well, as if you were preparing the room for a guest.
- Cooking: Fragrant aromas such as those of freshly baked cookies or freshly brewed coffee are appealing to most people.
– Bathrooms: make sure they are always stocked with fresh towels. Purchase new shower curtains; and put some new scented soaps in the soap holders. Remove any empty bottles or containers, or stickers from the walls.
– Cellars: they must be cleaned, hire someone to empty them, immediately. For many buyers, cellars indicate what they can expect to find “behind the surface”.
- Collections: everyone has collections, family photos on the walls, autographed footballs, dolls, trophies that the children have won at school. Put your collections away so people can focus on their real interest, which is buying your home.
– Fridge: Remove everything from your fridge. Most people use magnets or sticky tape to attach everything from vacation photos to notes from the kids and grocery lists. It always looks messy. Clean it up and leave it empty.
- Comfort: keep the house warm in winter and cool in summer. A home that is too hot or too cold is not inviting.
– Fireplace: they have a double function, a utilitarian one, as they are an additional source of heat and a romantic one: nothing creates an atmosphere like the light of candles and a fire in a fireplace. If you have a fireplace, shine a spotlight on it. Polish the fireplace utensils. Arrange the wood in an orderly manner. When the house is visited in the fall or winter on a cold day, nothing says "Welcome" like the warmth, light, crackle and smell of a blazing fire.
– Flowers: Colorful vases with fresh flowers create splashes of color and fragrance throughout the home, creating a wonderful impression on potential buyers. Bouquets of carnations, daisies, tulips, or other seasonal flowers bought at your local supermarket will do just fine.
– Light: well-lit houses seem more spacious and cheerful. During the day, open all your curtains and drapes. If the view is unattractive, place coverings over the entire window so that they let the light filter through, but mask the view. When showing your home, light up the rooms by turning on all the lights, even during the day. Make sure corridors and stairways are well lit. Don't forget to turn on the cabinet lights, the oven lights, the lights above the stove and the kitchen cabinet lights.
Potential buyers often drive at night to see what your home looks like at night. Interior lights that are visible from the street can create a cozy and inviting look in a home. From sunset until you go to bed, keep at least one light on in every room facing the street. Think of it this way: Many of these small jobs will have to be done anyway when it's time to move. So why not do it a little earlier and thanks to that be able to make a decent amount more on the sale?
