Sell Faster…..Clean Bill Of Health—Polish, Repair and Inspect.
May 12th, 2008 Categories: Buyer and Seller Knowledge Center
Do the minor things before listing your home and benefit.
Those things are: CLEAN; POLISH; REPAIR; and INSPECT. Not necessarily in that order but do it. And yes it may take some muscle.
Under the heading of clean is de-clutter both inside and outside the home. Remove as much from the walls as possible. Remove the clutter in the garage. If you have boxes stored in the garage, stack them neatly and keep them low. You do not want a high rise anything in the garage. Get rid of any piles of anything in the yard.
Personal items are distractions to buyers. That is why it is suggested you remove as much from walls, rooms, whatever. You do not want your home to say “lived in”; you want it to say “for sale”.
Store excess furniture. Minimize the furniture that you have in each room. With furniture less is always better. Less furniture in a room makes it look bigger AND more importantly the buyer is picturing how their furniture will fit and look in a particular room.
Make sure everything is working. If the faucet is dripping, fix it. If doors do not close properly get them fixed. If it squeaks (whatever it is), oil it but get rid of the squeak.
Lights, camera…..action. Make sure you have lots of light. Make sure all dead light bulbs are replaced. When showing open all the shades…..let the light shine in. And yes have the lights on throughout the home.
If you want to see what things look like, look through your camera lens and that is what the buyer sees. If you don’t like what you see, certainly the buyer will not like it. Take the action necessary to make the situation look GOOD.
Be smart. Often there may be an unsightly thing in your neighbors yard. Set your blinds at an angle to minimize this situation. If you have shades pull them down slightly (if you can) to obscure the neighbors yard.
Minimize the use of room deodorizers. Use something natural like vanilla. Deodorizers, when used, give the impression that you are trying to conceal something. Baked bread or an apple pie always smells good.
Oh! One item that tends to always do well to get rid of odors is the use of lemon oil mixed with water that is been sprayed lightly in the home gives a freshness to the air throughout the home.
Windows, it is said, reflects the soul of the home. If the windows are dirty especially on the outside, the buyer thinks everything will be dirty on the inside. Keep in mind that first impressions are lasting impressions. Give a good and lasting impression with clean windows.
Most of the work will have to be done in the kitchen and bathrooms. Keep counters cleared. Put the mixer away, all the utensils in the draw and yes make sure the cabinets and draws are neat. Again if the buyer opens a draw and everything appears to be just thrown into it, that reflects on the whole house.
Closets……make them tidy and odor free.
Hardware floors are always a plus but make sure they look good. It could be money well spent if you had a professional look at your hardwood floors and see what it will take to make them sparkle.
When selling your home buyers are looking at ”move-in” ready. They do not want to think about replacing seals for leaking water faucets, or the work that has to be done to get doors operating properly, or……they just want a move in ready home.
Paint, paint, paint, paint. It is relatively inexpensive but can yield great results. Do not buy an inferior paint. Do it right and it will yield dividends. Take your time or have someone do it for you but a great paint job sings.
Inspect your home. Yes you will have to critic your property inside and out. So a thorough inspection is warranted to make sure that the little nits that need fixing are fixed.
When you have finished your inspection, do it again.
I would also recommend that you have a home inspection conducted. Be ahead of the curve and know what has to be done. In fact if a formal offer is made think about offering the home inspection package to the buyer. This shows that you have nothing to hide. You will have to come to grips with any major repairs so be upfront and generally it works out to every-ones benefit.
Again the buyer is interested in a move-in ready home. So if major repairs have to take place think of how you are going to handle the situation. Fix them before listing or give the buyer a credit so that they can have it fixed. Have a plan.
Remodeling before selling. NO. If you remodel either the bathroom or kitchen it is going to cost you money and it may not increase the value to your home. Secondly you will have limited time to enjoy the benefits. Often a good paint job and “staged” articles will do the trick. Keep things simple and nice.
If you can “stage” your home. Staging one’s home tends to get the seller top dollar and the property is not on the market as long. It is a win situation for the seller and also the buyer.
Now that you have the property ready to show, what does your marketing plan look like and do you understand it. I put this under inspection. It is a stretch but after going through all of the work you certainly want to make sure that your property is being looked at.
Understand up front that open houses do not sell homes. Only 1% or less of homes are sold at open houses.
Less than 3% of homes are sold through print advertising. The Internet, a good realtor are essential ingredients. Variety they say is the spice of life; so is marketing, particularly those best suited to selling your home in your area.
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