Getting Your Home Ready To Sell

How do I make my home stand out? What can I do to prepare for selling? These are both very common questions when it comes to selling your home. But what’s the magic formula? How do you make sure your home gets noticed amid the hot spring market? Here are a few tips to get you started!

De-personalize and de-clutter

Those beautiful photos of you and your family on last year’s vacation to Hawaii? While it may be nice for your family to enjoy reminders of the beautiful memories you’ve shared together, you may want to rethink leaving them out for showings and open houses. When you think about it, buying a house is, for the most part, an emotional process. Buyers want to step into a home and feel a sense of attachment and belonging. They want to be able to picture their furniture, their belongings, their memories in the home. While furniture and decor are helpful in assisting buyers to envision utilization of the space, an abundance of clutter and personal effects can hinder their ability to emotionally commit. Obviously, it’s best to try and avoid that.

Remove items you want to keep

Be honest with yourself - is there an appliance, light fixture or window covering you can’t live without? If it’s something you simply can’t part with, make sure to move it into storage prior to listing. You need to be prepared for a number of these items to be included in your purchase agreement and left to the new homeowners. If it’s a fixture in the home with sentimental value, get it moved or be ready to leave it behind. The last thing you want is to blow a good deal over inclusions.

Clean until it sparkles

Have you ever walked into a home and instantly been turned off by the smell of cigarettes or last weeks chicken dinner? While you may be fine with the dirty dishes in the sink, it could ultimately lead to your home sitting on the market for months on end. It’s extremely important to remember that the majority of buyers will have a difficult time getting past bad odours and cobwebs. The reality is that most buyers are searching for a house that is move-in ready and uncleanly circumstances aren’t exactly enticing.

Consider curb appeal.. First impressions MATTER

Have you ever heard of the Harvard Communications study that suggests within 7 seconds of meeting someone you have developed a first impression? Not only that but, on average, it takes meeting that same person 7 more times to change that first impression. Let’s apply this same ideology to selling your home. After all, 55% of your first impression of a person is based strictly on visual appearance - so why should your home’s appearance be any different? Logically, when we consider that a home’s exterior is the first thing that a potential buyer will see a) in listing photos and b) in person… it becomes evident how important it is. Before we get ahead of ourselves, I’m not saying you need to go hiring a landscaping company to get your property sold. Simply staying on top of mowing the lawn, pulling a few weeds and trimming the bushes can go a long way. Step outside and take a look around. Is your home’s exterior inviting? Ultimately, you want to convey that you’ve taken some pride of ownership in the home and make your first impression count.