Every seller has a common goal in mind – sell the home quickly and for the most money. Yet when it comes time to sell the house not every seller will be prepared. Many forget or don’t know how to remove road blocks that can stall the sales process or kill it completely. If you’re getting ready to list your home for sale, pay close attention. What you do before you list it can help or hurt the process.
Study your neighborhood and the homes that are for sale. If your home is consistently coming up short in comparison, maybe it’s not landscaped enough or it hasn’t had any upgrades in 20 years, and it’s overdue for some renovations or, at the very least, repairs to clean it up. If, for instance, you have vinyl flooring that’s peeling, consider replacing it with a flooring that matches the style of your home and is comparable to the neighborhood so that it is consistent with the quality of floors in other homes in the area.
Remove YOU from the home. Yes, it’s tricky to remove your personality from the home, especially when you’re still living it. But it’s very necessary. This doesn’t just mean taking down personal photos and putting away private items like medicines. This means that if you’ve turned a room into a particular “you” room, your style, your personality, and your unique use of the room, consider re-doing the room to make it more neutral, versatile, and appealing to buyers. For example, if one of the bedrooms in a two-bedroom house was converted into a meditation room, you’ll want to change it back to a bedroom. Buyers can sometimes imagine how they’d use a room, but if it looks like too much work to make changes they’ll keep hunting for a house that is better suited to their needs.
Remove strong odors from your home. Of course, I’m talking about foul smelling odors but sometimes too much of a good thing can also be a turn off. Gather up pet toys, pet beds, pet food, and make sure the house is pristine. If you’re using fragrances in your home from sprays, candles, potpourri or even real flowers, make sure that the odor isn’t overwhelming. Subtle is good… overbearing can make people think you’re trying to cover up something bad in the home.
Ultimately, the goal is to make the home have mass appeal with as few road blocks as possible to sell it. Get your home “show-ready” so that it isn’t lacking or appearing deficient compared to other homes in your neighborhood. Placing a home on the market that isn’t ready (needs repairs) can cause the home to receive very little foot traffic and it can end up being on the market for a long time. For more tips or a personal review of your home’s road blocks, call Helen today at 847.967.0022 or email [email protected].