There is a famous saying in the stock market: “Those who know when to buy are amateurs but those who know when to sell are the true masters”. When it comes to preparing your home for sale, this is the adage you should go by.
If you do not plan meticulously, just as in stock market, you will certainly fail to clinch a mouth-watering deal when selling your home, because in the day of move-in-ready homes, buyers will immediately drop the thought of buying your home if they can spot a single flaw. Be it a hairline crack somewhere, an indelicate paintjob or even something as insignificant as a burned-out light bulb.
So, proper knowledge on how to shine your house in an exciting manner that will compel the buyer to come to the decision of buying the house is mandatory. Before the first prospect walks through your front door, follow these tips to prepare your house and turn it into an irresistible marketable home that will be any buyer’s delight.
De-Personalize
De-personalizing your home is the most important step in your home staging process. It is about neutralizing your home by removing your personal taste from it, so that buyers can mentally visualize themselves moving in your house rather than having a feeling of intruding into your personal space.
Everything from artifacts, family photos to your personal touch to the home décor—everything should be removed methodically. You need to look at your home through the buyer’s eyes. They want to imagine their own photos on the walls or over the mantel and they can’t do that if yours are there.
It is important you remember that the buyers are buying your home for their own lifestyle and not for recreating your lifestyle. You should help them as much as possible to emotionally connect with your house based on what they feel about the appeal of your home and how they are seeing themselves living in there.
Sparkle Your House by a Thorough Cleaning
Cleaning your home for selling is entirely different from your usual day-to-day or weekly cleaning job. A clean home makes a good impression that your house has been taken good care of and this impression helps the buyers connect to your home instantly.
Even if it takes a whole day to give your house a good clean look, it is worth it as no one will loosen their purse to buy a house that is messy and mucky.
Drawers, cupboards, cabinets, fan-blades, bookshelves and other storage spaces; clean up everything where dust gathers. Wash the doors and the windows inside out, mop and wax the floors, clean any fingerprints present on the body of appliances, especially the refrigerator.
Clean out the cobwebs, polish the doorknobs, chrome faucets, and the mirrors, vacuum the carpet and get rid of any worn-out rugs. Don’t forget to clean the garage, too. If your house is in a tip-top condition, it will give the buyers a cozy feeling which will generate positive vibes that will help you get the buyers in a good spirit and seal a great deal.
Declutter
It may sound obvious, but the need of decluttering cannot be overstated. It goes without any saying that we all collect an amazing quantity of junk in our lifetime and if we are staying in one house for quite a few years, there is a huge number of things, I am sure you haven’t used in over a year and therefore, it is safe to say that you don’t need them anymore. All those items are pieces of junk.
Just donate or throw them away. Do not burden the buyers with an overwhelming number of unused items lying here and there in the house. Enter each room, look at every corner, inside every cabinet and cupboard, over and under every shelf and storage space, and simply get rid of things that don’t make your house look awesome but can distract the buyer from its appeal.
You need to focus on minute details while decluttering. Neither the empty box under the bed nor the kitchen counter stacked with mails can be ignored when making your home a clean slate.
Repair and Revamp
Would you buy a commodity that has a defect that requires fixing? If the answer is a big NO, don’t expect anybody to buy your house which has a leaky faucet or a loose doorknob.
Repairs can make or break your sale and therefore, it is important you pay the utmost attention to both the big and the small details. If you have cracked floor tiles, replace them, if you have any holes present in the walls, patch them. Fix any leaky faucet, doors that don’t close properly, or kitchen drawers that jam. Burned-out light bulbs or a worn bedspread, neither are for a buyer to see.
After you take care of the necessary repair works, it is time for you to make some renovations that will present your house in a good inviting spirit to a prospective buyer and will initiate a positive ambience about your house.
If you have a dramatic red living room or a blue bedroom, paint them in neutral tones like tans and whites. This will enable the buyers to focus solely on the living or the bedroom space instead of making assumptions about the choice of the people living there. Keep the décor as simple as possible to give the buyers a sense of imagining themselves in your space as choices and tastes on a classic landscape painting can vary broadly across the board.
All these will initiate positivity and will portray your house as one that is well maintained in the eyes of the buyers.
Highlight Focal Points
To attract buyers and tap into their emotions, you need to highlight some focal points in your house and give each corner or room a true purpose.
You can draw buyers’ eyes towards the lovely window seat by throwing a vibrant color pillow on it. If there is a spare room that you have been using as a guest room or as an office space, keeping it disorganized in that way won’t help you in your sale. Show the buyer the purpose of that room by organizing the furniture or the décor in the manner that showcases the true purpose. Arrange the furniture in your living room that will inspire a relaxing conversation.
Remember, just as the big things, the smallest details can make your home stand out in the crowd.
Exterior is as Important as the Interior
The first impression is extremely important as that is almost impossible to reverse. To walk in through your front door to have a look at your house, a buyer needs to come in through your property, which if not maintained, will immediately turn off the buyer.
Your property should be maintained in a way that it charms the buyer with a welcoming feeling and he or she can’t wait to step inside your house to have a look at something close and personal. Trim the shrubs, bushes, and the trees, mow the lawn, weed the flower beds, and take care of any peeling paint.
It is important that you keep the sidewalks and walkway clear and if possible add a row of yellow plants along the walkway as yellow invokes buying emotion and marigolds are not at all expensive.
Just as attractive packaging is important to retain the aesthetic value of a product, a clean and well- maintained exterior of your house is important to invite the buyers into your home.
Be Honest and Set a Realistic Price
As the owner of the house, you need to be absolutely honest with the buyers. From information about lifestyle, amenities, and accessibility of the neighborhood to the reason behind selling your house, you need to tell the buyers all the whys and the whats.
To get into the mind of the buyer, which is a difficult place nonetheless, first be clear in your own head about your selling propositions. If you hide anything or answer any question dishonestly, the buyers will come to find everything if they are really thinking of buying your house and cancel the deal.
Again, setting a realistic price is very important if you are trying to sell the house in a slow market. To find the right price for your property, you can even consult a bank to get a valuation. If everything is perfect from interior to exterior, don’t let the sky-high price let down a prospective buyer.
CONCLUSION
From small but important details like bad odors in the kitchen, stains in the toilet, uneven hanging of window curtains to the big ones like fading paint, jammed doors or leaky faucets—when selling your home, every single thing is important, if you are looking to get the right price.
In a highly competitive market, most buyers at least see more than a dozen of houses before making the decision. So, you have to be at the top of your game. The basic principle is, remove every negative thing to make every corner of your house tell a story of benefit. Buyers should get a “good to be home” feeling when they enter your house.
Some soothing music, good incense candles, well-behaved pets, and a compassionate smile on the owner’s face can help in the process of selling a home and getting some good returns on investment from it.
