Our Top 4 Helpful Tips on Preparing Your Home For Sale
If you are thinking about selling your home in the near future (or if it’s just been listed) here are the JS Realty Team’s 4 Tips on Preparing Your Home For Sale! By implementing these 4 helpful suggestions, you can maximize top dollar from the Buyers out there! Because let’s face it, the better the house looks and “feels”, the sooner you will attract a Buyer who wants to make your home their own. The key words here is that they want to make it their own. So… where do you start?
#1 – DEPERSONALIZE YOUR HOME
What does it mean to “depersonalize” your home? It means making it look as neutral and clutter free as humanly possible. Start by removing any and all personal photography. We know you & your family look great and that picture above the mantel is AMAZING, but a potential Buyer does not really care how cute your kids are, and in fact, it may be a distraction. So go ahead and pack up ALL of your personal pictures. If you have a wall of family photos, that needs to come down too. Consider replacing the images with a large, neutral art piece. Another quicker, easier option is just patching the nail holes and repainting the wall.
Personal effects… if you have a large collection of something (say frogs, for instance) pick your favorite frog item to leave out and then – pack the rest. Trust us, the Buyers won’t be interested in them. And don’t forget to remove graduation or other certificates, awards, and trophies. Having those items displayed is not a bad thing, it’s just not the best way to quickly attract a great Buyer and optimize your potential for top dollar. This is why we ask you to remove these personal items when you’re preparing your home for sale.
#2 – HAVE A PAINTING PARTY
Now that you have depersonalized the home, look around at the paint. One of our favorite ways to make a home feel like home, is to add some color to the walls! However, preparing your home for sale is the time to turn your home into a “blank canvas”. Take a quick peek at our previous blog about painting the home, it offers tips on where to start and what colors are best to use. Neutralizing your homes color is the next step in creating an experience for the Buyer. While they are viewing your home, we want them to imagine their couch, their rug, and their paintings in your home. The easiest way to start this experience for them is by depersonalizing the home and creating a neutral color scheme.
#3 – USE SOME ELBOW GREASE
The single most important thing you can do is CLEAN! Then clean, clean, and clean again. Give your house a FULL cleaning – meaning top to bottom. Pay special attention to bathrooms, the kitchen and appliances, the pantry and the refrigerator – inside, underneath, and behind! Cleaning the windows of your home makes a remarkable difference, as well. And if you have screens on the windows, consider removing them and placing them in a safe spot. You would be surprised how bright your home looks with clean windows and no screens.
Don’t forget the floors! A good carpet cleaning goes a long way, too. If you have hardwood floors, consider waxing them. Once you have cleaned, it will be most important to do your best to keep it that way, since Buyers love a clean house. A dirty home is a distraction and immediately has the Buyer devaluing your home. Make sure it smells good, but try not use too many scents or candles. First impressions make a lasting impression! Don’t forget to tidy up the yard and feel free to give it a pop of color with a few seasonal flowers.
#4 – PATCH IT UP
Walk around the house and repair any of those little nagging items that have been bugging you – a loose toilet seat, the stopper in the bathroom that doesn’t shut, etc. And remember to check and make sure that every single light bulb in the house is working – even the one in the oven!
We have additional tips on staging and packing that we are happy to share with you the further along in the selling process we get. The bottom line here is, set a schedule and plan ahead because preparing your home for sale can take time. We want you to have The Ultimate Selling Experience, and following these helpful suggestions goes along way towards ensuring you get top dollar for your home!
If you’re thinking of buying or selling a home, contact us today. We’d love to sit down and talk to you about all of the possibilities the current market has to offer!
So what does that mean in plain English? If you are purchasing a home, ratification of the contract begins the moment the contract has been delivered to all parties with ALL of the terms agreed to in writing. This is the moment when you all are committed to each other and the terms of which you have agreed to work under. This is the moment when the timelines that you set in the contract begin (unless otherwise stated that they begin based on other terms). So your Realtor is congratulating you on the fact that all parties have reached an agreement and will be moving forward.
point of being ratified, so getting your contract ratified means they are committing to your terms and no one else’s. Also, as the Purchaser, you will want to know when the home inspection deadlines, appraisal deadlines, financing contingencies and other contingencies actually start. You will want to ensure that you meet the terms of your agreement and stay within the timelines to protect certain rights of yours within the contract.
So, the next time your Realtor congratulates you on officially being “ratified”, you will know that this is in fact a great moment and worth a little celebration!