First impressions have a lasting effect. Most buyers will know if they’ve found ‘the one’ within 30 seconds of walking through the front door. By keeping your home clean, tidy, and organized you can turn a bad first impression into a great one that may result in getting your home sold faster, and for more money! Who doesn’t like that? Once you get them through this initial stage it is important to live up to the expectations. Here are a few quick tips on making your home more show-ready.
Depersonalize:
Buyers need to be able to picture themselves and their belongings in your home. The less distractions they have the easier it will be for them to visualize where their furniture is going to go. Family photos, degrees, trophies and your own personal touches may not appeal to everyone. Keep in mind that the house will ultimately end up as someone else’s home and that person will have a unique style and personal touches to add. Use neutral colours whenever possible. Bright colours and busy patterns often make it difficult to imagine what another style or theme would look like.
De-Clutter:
Few things deter potential buyers more than a cluttered living space. Many buyers will have their mind made up already once they walk into cluttered living space. It doesn’t matter if the space will be empty when they move in, it’s that first impression that makes a huge difference. Start by packing up everything you don’t need into boxes and storing them out of sight (you’ll be moving soon anyway, right?). Clear the tables and counter tops and make sure everything is neat and tidy. Try to have as much open walking space as possible – remember, open space makes a room appear larger than it really is!
Repair:
That broken face plate may go unnoticed by you, but anyone viewing your home is going to notice it right away. It might not make a difference to you, but a buyer might wonder what other maintenance has been neglected. replace broken light bulbs. The simple things make a HUGE difference. Small repairs are cheap and easy to do and they can renew life to an otherwise old and beat down home. Leaky faucets, chipped paint and dinged baseboards are all relatively easy fixes. You can even fix the scratches on cupboards fairly easily with a touch-up stick.
Maximize Curb Appeal:
You could do everything right, but it might be a lost effort if you forget about the first thing that a person sees when they drive up to your home. What does your house look like from the street? Is the lawn landscaped, or is at least the grass cut? What about the fence, does it need a new layer of paint? Most of this sounds pretty logical but it’s amazing how often these things go unnoticed by the homeowner. Keep the outside of the house looking nice and nobody should be driving past your “For Sale” sign.