| Guide for Selling Your Home |
Your house is your castle, so why not present it at its very best
First impressions speak volumes, presentation is everything when it
comes to selling your home! Potential buyers are attracted to clean,
spacious and attractive homes. Your goal is to dazzle buyers and to
make your home sparkle like a diamond.
Preparing your Home for Sale
Cleaning
Clean everything scrub-down your home from top to bottom and makes it
sparkle. Remember while cleaning your home, pay particular attention
to the kitchen and bathroom. If you pay particular attention to these
two areas, potential buyer will feel a lot more confident that the
rest of the home has been maintained to a very high standard. Why not
highlight your bathroom or en-suite by selecting some attractive new
towels for display.
Windows
Clean all windows both inside and outside your property this will
create a good first impression for buyers.
Professional Cleaning Service
Professional cleaning services are now available and may be an option
if you are not able to complete this cleaning task yourself.
De-clutter
As the seller your commandment: must be thou shall remove all clutter.
Clearing away all clutter is one of the best ways showcase your home,
it will instantly appear larger and brighter. Anything that you will
be not using in the next few months packed away into storage boxes.
Kitchen Clutter
The kitchen is one of the best places to start removing clutter, and
is also one of easiest to tackle. First, remove everything off your
counter tops. Put your toaster and other items in a press and only
take out when using same.
If your kitchen presses, and drawers appear over loaded, it will send
a negative signal to the potential buyer. Over loaded kitchen presses
and drawers will not promote an image of plenty of storage space. The
best way to tackle this situation is to provide as much "empty space"
as possible.
Underneath the sink is very critical area, and may be over looked.
Make sure this area beneath the sink is as empty as possible, removing
all extra cleaning supplies. You should clean and scrub this area
well, remove any tell-tale signs of water leaks as this can often
cause a potential buyer to hesitate in buying your property.
Furniture Clutter
This is a crucial point for a quick sale most people can have too much
furniture in certain rooms. Lots of furniture in a room is fine for
your own personal living needs. Potential buyers must be given the
illusion of plenty of space that what on there wish list.
If you require an example of this illusion just visit a new show house
in your area. Usually a interior designers will have been commissioned
by the builders to provide this service. Take a good look to see how
they have placed all of the furniture in each room. This exercise will
be very worth while on how you can now best place the furniture in
your own home. You will have gained some ideas and a general guideline
on what furniture to leave and what is to be removed.
Family Photos
Remove during viewing all family photos, sports trophies, collectible
items, knick-knacks, and souvenirs. You may also consider storing all
there items in a box until the sale of the property has been
completed.
Doors & Windows
Check that all of your windows to make sure they open and close
easily. If not, use a product like WD40 to spray on affected areas.
Also check you have no cracked or broken window-panes. If discovered
have same replaced before you put your property up for sale.
Now start the same process with all your doors making sure they open
and close properly, without any creaking noises. If not, use a product
like WD40 to spray on affected hinges this will usually get rid of any
creaking noises. Make sure all your doorknobs turn easily, and that
they are cleaned and polished to look sharp. Potential buyers will
move from room to room, opening and closing doors as they go. Any
difficulty experienced entering or leaving a room will not create a
positive impression for your potential buyer.
Fresh Odors
Fresh cut flowers will make a welcomed addition, and a pleasantly
scented house is very inviting for buyers. Whatever you do, don't be
tempted to use a lot of air fresheners, some people sometimes find
them offensive. It is very important to always, make sure your home
smells lovely.
Smoke Odor
For those of you who smoke, you might want to minimize smoking indoors
while trying to sell your property. You may require purchasing an
ozone spray that helps to remove odors without creating a masking
odor.
Pet Odors
For those with cats, be sure to empty the litter box daily. As you are
cleaning out the cat litter box why not use the addition of a light
mildly scented candle. For all dog owners, keep your dog outdoors as
much as possible, even those adorable smaller breeds. All pets if
possible should be absent or out of the potential buyers way during a
viewing times.
Lighting
In the event of an evening viewing, make sure you have ample lighting
available in all areas. Use brighter lighting try switching to 100
watt bulbs for maximum wattage. This extra lighting will allow the
rooms to appear brighter, larger, and warmer. Some rooms may benefit
from using warmer color light bulbs this is a case of trial and error.
In addition to brighter light bulbs, when showing your home provide
plenty of natural sunlight. Open all the curtains to let all that
lovely sunshine in. This will also help to make your home a warmer,
welcoming environment.
Interior Paintwork
Painting makes a house look brilliantly fresh and new on the inside
and never fails to impress. I would suggest giving your front door a
fresh coat of paint for that warmer, welcome feeling. Touch up all
paintwork this is a tell tale sign for potential buyer. The signs of
peeling paint will send the wrong signal; buyers may assume that you
have not taken care of your property.
Recommendation
Some estate agents recommend to repainting with a neutral color
palette to appeal to a wider range of potential buyer's good idea.
Painting can be your best investment when it comes to selling your
home. It is not a very expensive operation and often you can do it
yourself. Do not choose colors based on your own preferences, but
based on what would appeal to the widest possible number of potential
buyers. You should almost always choose an off-white color because
white helps your rooms to appear bright and more spacious.
Ceilings
Before you start showing your home, clean the ceilings, fix any cracks
or imperfections, and repaint if necessary. It is a common saying that
most people never look up, but when looking at a home, people are more
likely to look in places that they normal do not. Check all your
ceilings for water stains, if a potential buyer sees a water stain,
they will assume there may be a problem with the roof, or maybe the
plumbing or central heating system.
Exterior Paintwork
Always make sure that the exterior is in excellent shape. Check the
exterior of your property for signs of wear or damage, such as peeling
paint. The big decision is whether to paint or not to paint. Take a
good look at your property from across the road, does its appearance
look tired and dated. If the answer is yes it would be a very good
investment to repaint. This new paint job will really brighten up the
exterior appearance of your home, and will appeal to a much wider the
number of potential buyers.
Heating & Plumbing
Have your central heating boiler serviced make sure your all necessary
repairs to the plumbing systems are completed.
Carpet and Flooring
Unless your carpet appears old and worn, or look outdated in style or
color, you probably should do nothing more than hire a good carpet
cleaner. If you do choose to replace them, do so with something
inexpensive in a fairly neutral colour.
Repairs
Repair or replace broken floor tiles, you may not spend a lot of money
on this type of repair. Your goal is simply to remove as many negative
impressions of the property for the potential buyer.
Landscaping
Golden Rule
The golden rule is gardens sell houses so treat you garden with the
same attention to detail as you would a room. Simple aesthetic
improvements will make a big different to the over all affect of your
gardens sale ability. Remember its all about first impressions so
never forget the landscaping at the front of your home very important.
Flowers
If you have an area for flowers, buy mature colourful flowers and
plant them. They add a splash of vibrancy and colour, creating a
favorable first impression. Do not buy bulbs or seeds and plant them.
They will not mature in time for you to create the desired effect. The
last thing you want is a patch of bare earth for potential buyers to
see.
Shrubs & Trees
Keep all your shrubs and trees regularly trimmed, weed and water same.
If you have the space why not, buy a few shrubs and plant them. Do not
buy trees, as mature trees can be expensive, and you will be a good
investment. Trees that are still immature, will not really add much to
the over all appearance value of your home.
Lawn
Keep your lawn neatly cut, freshly edged, well watered, and free of
bare patches. If there are problems with your lawn, you should
probably take care of them before working on the inside of your home.
This is because certain areas may need to re-sow with grass seed. This
area will need to be given a chance to grow and not to appear
immediately apparent. Plus, you might want to give the fertilizer
enough time to be effective.
Garden Maintenance
Maintain all new and improved garden exterior of your home until you
have successfully sold your property.
Final Run Through
Preparing your property for sale, simply put make it all it can be.
Now take a step back and imagine you are the potential buyer. Get help
why not ask a friend to take a look and point out any missed areas.
Ask advice from your estate agent as they may have a few pearls of
wisdom. Each time a potential buyer is going to view your home always
makes a last minute check before they arrive.
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