Get Your Home Ready to Sell Today
Purchasing a home has always been an important life decision. Where to live, what type of home to purchase, the school systems, and the mortgage options have all been important choices buyers made over the past decades. Commonly, the area and schools played a large role in the home purchase and many buyers, in previous decades, would be willing to “fix it up” or make changes to make it their own.
Today, the newer home buying generations are looking for something a bit different and home sellers need to make adjustments. Sellers need to understand their audience and know what buyers, the ones touring their homes and hopefully purchasing, are looking for. Here are 5 things that need to be addressed by every owner listing their home today.
- Enhance the front entrance – This may seem to be common sense, but the number of homes I visit where the door is all dinged up, there are dead flowers in the pots, or dirt and leaves are piling up is astounding. Get a broom and sweep the front area – paint the door and railings if necessary. Make it a place the potential buyer wants to enter.
- Get neutral – Picking the paint colors for your home helps to make if your own. However, when you are selling your home, that personalization needs to be toned back. This is not an insult to you or your tastes – but your tastes may not be the taste of the buyer. Paint your home in nice neutral colors. Beiges, whites, and grey tones are all great choices right now. Remember, lighter tones make the home feel both cleaner and more open and spacious. Take advantage of that!
- Clean up – Everyone’s home gets messy and cluttered over time. When trying to sell your home this all needs to get cleaned up. Remember, you are planning on moving anyway – so pack it away. Remember that this includes basements and garages – a little clean up there can make a big difference! Do it now, before the house is photographed, marketed, and shown.
- Get staged – The difference a professional home stager can make to a property is amazing. Their expertise and eye will help to enhance the positives of a home, hide the negatives, and create a space and ambience that buyers are looking for. Staging companies often do free consultations to provide feedback and ideas. After that, it is up to you whether to proceed with the staging- however, it will always help for both the photos and the showings.
- Consult with your Realtor – Often, there are simple and inexpensive changes you can make to drastically alter the end result of a home sale (both maximizing price and minimizing days on market). For example, are your kitchen cabinets still in great condition, but are they being utilized to hold up that original Formica countertop? Buyers today want granite or other top countertop alternatives. Many buyers will cross a otherwise perfect home off the list in their minds because of something this inconsequential. Granite prices have come down over the past decade – that simple change could make a huge difference. Your Realtor should talk to you about these options.
The key here is preparation. If you are thinking of listing your home, start looking at these facets and reach out to a team that can help. I have built a strong team to help my sellers with all of these issues and you must ensure that your Realtor has as well. Todays buyers expect more – be sure that your home is providing it for them!
