How to Prepare Your Home for Sale
Disassociate Yourself With Your Home.
- Say to yourself, "This is not my home; it is a house -- a product to be sold much like a box of cereal on the grocery store shelf.
- Make the mental decision to "let go" of your emotions and focus on the fact that soon this house will no longer be yours.
- Picture yourself handing over the keys and envelopes containing appliance warranties to the new owners!
- Say goodbye to every room.
- Don't look backwards -- look toward the future.
De-Personalize.
Pack up those personal photographs and family heirlooms. Buyers can't see past personal artifacts, and you don't want them to be distracted. You want buyers to imagine their own photos on the walls, and they can't do that if yours are there! You don't want to make any buyer ask, "I wonder what kind of people live in this home?" You want buyers to say, "I can see myself living here."
De-Clutter!
People collect an amazing quantity of junk. Consider this: if you haven't used it in over a year, you probably don't need it.
- If you don't need it, why not donate it or throw it away?
- Remove all books from bookcases.
- Pack up those knickknacks.
- Clean off everything on kitchen counters.
- Put essential items used daily in a small box that can be stored in a closet when not in use.
- Think of this process as a head-start on the packing you will eventually need to do anyway.
Rearrange Bedroom Closets and Kitchen Cabinets.
Buyers love to snoop and will open closet and cabinet doors. Think of the message it sends if items fall out! Now imagine what a buyer believes about you if she sees everything organized. It says you probably take good care of the rest of the house as well. This means:
- Alphabetize spice jars.
- Neatly stack dishes.
- Turn coffee cup handles facing the same way.
- Hang shirts together, buttoned and facing the same direction.
- Line up shoes.
Rent a Storage Unit.
Almost every home shows better with less furniture. Remove pieces of furniture that block or hamper paths and walkways and put them in storage. Since your bookcases are now empty, store them. Remove extra leaves from your dining room table to make the room appear larger. Leave just enough furniture in each room to showcase the room's purpose and plenty of room to move around. You don't want buyers scratching their heads and saying, "What is this room used for?"
Remove/Replace Favorite Items.
If you want to take window coverings, built-in appliances or fixtures with you, remove them now. If the chandelier in the dining room once belonged to your great grandmother, take it down. If a buyer never sees it, she won't want it. Once you tell a buyer she can't have an item, she will covet it, and it could blow your deal. Pack those items and replace them, if necessary.
Make Minor Repairs.
- Replace cracked floor or counter tiles.
- Patch holes in walls.
- Fix leaky faucets.
- Fix doors that don't close properly and kitchen drawers that jam.
- Consider painting your walls neutral colors, especially if you have grown accustomed to purple or pink walls.
(Don't give buyers any reason to remember your home as "the house with the orange bathroom.")
- Replace burned-out light bulbs.
- If you've considered replacing a worn bedspread, do so now!
Make the House Sparkle!
- Wash windows inside and out.
- Rent a pressure washer and spray down sidewalks and exterior.
- Clean out cobwebs.
- Re-caulk tubs, showers and sinks.
- Polish chrome faucets and mirrors.
- Clean out the refrigerator.
- Vacuum daily.
- Wax floors.
- Dust furniture, ceiling fan blades and light fixtures.
- Bleach dingy grout.
- Replace worn rugs.
- Hang up fresh towels.
- Bathroom towels look great fastened with ribbon and bows.
- Clean and air out any musty smelling areas. Odors are a no-no.
Scrutinize.
- Go outside and open your front door. Stand there. Do you want to go inside? Does the house welcome you?
- Linger in the doorway of every single room and imagine how your house will look to a buyer.
- Examine carefully how furniture is arranged and move pieces around until it makes sense.
- Make sure window coverings hang level.
- Tune in to the room's statement and its emotional pull. Does it have impact and pizzazz?
- Does it look like nobody lives in this house? You're almost finished.
Check Curb Appeal.
If a buyer won't get out of her agent's car because she doesn't like the exterior of your home, you'll never get her inside.
- Keep the sidewalks cleared.
- Mow the lawn.
- Paint faded window trim.
- Plant yellow flowers or group flower pots together. Yellow evokes a buying emotion. Marigolds are inexpensive.
- Trim your bushes.
- Make sure visitors can clearly read your house number.
Article Source: About.com
Top Reasons Homes Don’t Sell
Are you selling a home? Did you know that even though home buyers are all looking for something different, the majority of them will turn around and walk back out of your door if they notice one or more of these Top 10 problems.
Odors
House odors are number one on the home selling uh-oh list. And narrowing it down, odors from cigarette smoke and pets take top billing, with mildew not far behind.
If you smoke indoors--the house smells like cigarettes. If you have pets, the house might smell bad--even if you don't notice it. Ask someone who doesn't live there to take a sniff, and don't get angry when they tell you the truth.
Eradicate the odors so that you can present potential buyers with a clean, fresh atmosphere--not a house that's full of perfumes to cover up the odors.
Dogs that Meet You at the Door or in the Driveway
Dogs frighten some people and irritate others. You'll have a much better response from showings if you control your pets--dogs, cats, whatever.
You say you plan to put them in a bedroom or garage and then ask people not to open the door to that area? Bad idea. Would you buy a house you can't inspect? Of course not.
Remove pets during showings if possible. If you can't, contain them in crates for their own safety and to show respect for the feelings of potential buyers.
Dirty Bathrooms
Grimy bathrooms are an instant turnoff. Scrub them, paint them, buy a new shower curtain, rugs and towels--do what it takes to make them shine. If you're serious about selling the home, the extra work is a must.
Dimly Lit Rooms
Dark homes are a turnoff to most home buyers, so try to brighten them up:
- Replace dim light fixtures
- Install additional light fixtures
- Install (quality) sun tunnels or skylights
- Remove heavy drapes to let the light stream through windows
- Repaint some rooms with colors that reflect light
- Trim tree limbs that shadow the house
Dirty and fogged windows are another buyer turnoff. Clean them inside and out to bring in more light. If possible, replace any double-pane windows with broken seals. You can find them by looking for a foggy residue that cannot be removed.
A House Full of Busy Wallpaper
Busy wallpaper in every room turns off most buyers, and even people who love wallpaper rarely like what you've chosen. It's a personal decorative touch that they want to select themselves.
It's the masses you must appeal to when you're selling a home, so take a hard look at your wallpaper and decide if it should be removed and replaced with paint. Don't paint over it, because it will be obvious that you did--and buyers know that makes removing it even more difficult.
Bugs
Roaches, spiders, any insect that shouldn't be in the house. Get rid of them.
Poor Curb Appeal
You must grab a buyer's interest from the curb if you want to sell the home for top dollar. Home buyers often refuse to go into a house with an unkempt yard, sagging doors or peeling paint. You say you can't afford to paint? Okay, but get that yard in tip-top shape and grab a screwdriver to fix those doors.
Gutters with Plants Growing in Them
I'm serious. Some people never clean their gutters, and it always makes buyers wonder what else hasn't been maintained.
Remember the drainage issue in #6? Cleaning packed gutters might help.
Sellers Who Hang Around for Showings
Yes, you... leave the house during showings. Home buyers feel awkward about opening closet doors and lingering for a really good look at the house if the seller is home.
If you're selling by owner, give them some space, don't hover.
Parting Words
Most of the Top 10 problems are home selling issues you can correct without spending a lot of money. Do it now, before you put the house on the market, because if your house develops a reputation among agents as the house that smells, the house with the huge barking dog or the house where the owner won't leave people alone, it will be too late. Your house will be last on their list to show potential buyers.
Comparable Homes for Sale
Check out your competition. If 90% of the homes in your market are not selling, then your home needs to outshine the top 10%. Look at the homes that are pending sales because that's your current indicator.
Sold comps could be two to three months in arrears of market movement. You want to know what is happening right now, and pending sale data will tell you which homes are selling.
Apart from preparing your home for sale, consider its condition. Perhaps you should consider adding updates or doing repairs before selling. If the top 10% on the market have new carpeting and your carpeting is worn and dated, your home is not going to sell. Replace the carpet. Paint the walls neutral -- not white. Check its curb appeal.
Photographs
Homes in MLS that have one photo are passed by. Homes with dozens of photographs get noticed. Take quality photos or hire a professional photographer. Shoot wide angles with plenty of light showcasing your home's best features. For goodness sake, keep the toilet lid closed.
- Unless your bedrooms differ from one another significantly, just shoot the master bedroom or largest bedroom.
- Don't get yourself or the camera in the photo of the bathroom by shooting the mirror's reflection.
- If your hallway is narrow, don't take a picture of it. Get a close up of your fireplace or other interesting feature instead.
- Take several photos of the kitchen. The kitchen is generally the most important photo.
- Before photographing the dining room, set the table.
- Living room photos should show space, so move out some of that furniture.
- Remember to include the back yard and gardens.
- Add descriptive text to each photo; make your poetry sing.
Pricing Your Home to Sell
Sellers say, "But I don't want to give away my house." Of course, not. You want to sell it. To sell your home, the price must be right. Don't "test" the market or ask an inflated figure because if you do, your home will probably sit on the market and the DOM will continue to tick. Dated listings don't generally sell for list price.
To avoid overpricing your home, examine the sold comparable sales. Adjust for square footage, if necessary. If your home has a bad layout or is located in bad location such as next to a school, on or near a busy street or bordering a liquor store, you're not going to get the same price as homes with a good layout and in a good location.
For example, if the last three homes sold at $400,000 but you feel they are not comparable to yours because they don't contain updates -- but they were located on a quiet street and your street is noisy -- your home is probably worth about the same. A plus-$50,000 adjustment for the updates could wash out the minus-$50,000 for the busy street.
In a buyer's market, price your home a minimum of 2% less than the last comparable sale. If you can't live with that price, then don't put your home on the market and set yourself up for disappointment. Overpricing is the worst mistake a home seller can make.
Article Source: About.com |
