We can go on about some of the reasons why selling a home is a hard decision. It means having to move somewhere else, having to say goodbye to all those memories. But we know the real reason selling a home is a heartbreak: because preparing for it can be such a hassle!
In order to attract people to your property and convince them to buy it, you need to get it looking as sharp as you possible can. You can’t leave basic chores undone, nor can you leave the essential non-functioning. Here’s a quick list of things you need to do.
Table of Contents
Remove yourself from the home
We’re not just talking about you physically. We mean the signs of your life within your home! Loads of families leave their mark across the home with photographs of each other or paintings on the walls. You can go into any home and you’ll probably see the life its inhabitants have made there.
But when people are looking to buy a property, that’s now what they want to see. They’re trying to imagine the life they’re going to build in that home will look like. They want to imagine their own photographs, their own memories. They want to project their potential future onto the blank canvas that is this property for sale. To turn your home into a blank canvas, you need to remove the personality of you and your family from it. Otherwise, they will feel more than ever that they’re just strangers in someone else’s home. That’s technically what they are for now, but don’t let them feel that way!
Make sure the house looks beautiful from the outside
Go out onto the street and take a good look at your property. Consider the house and the front lawn. Take it all in. Spend some time comparing it to nearby homes. How does it make you feel? If you don’t like what you see, then the buyers aren’t going to like what they see either. And this is the first thing that they’re going to see! A negative experience here will taint the whole viewing for them.
You need to be ruthless and brutal in your assessment. Pick out every single flaw you can. Has the lawn being mowed? You can’t let that grass get overgrown; that just puts the arduous task of lawn-mowing in the buyer’s head. Is the paint on the door or the window frames flaking or grubby? Maybe you should give them a fresh lick of paint.
Get your house looking empty(ish)
Remember the ‘blank canvas’ I referred to earlier? The best way to achieve this is to reduce the number of your belongings and furniture. Things like the television can be pretty useful to keep around. People tend to put the television in the same place anyone else would, so it will be more demonstrative than inconvenient. But all those DVDs and games you have around the TV? You can probably do with moving those. Reduce the amount of clutter in your home as much as you can. Books, ornaments, plants, posters – everything. Basically, you want the room to look as light and free as possible. But you want just enough furniture in there to convey the purpose of the room.
If you have bigger items like surplus furniture, you might want to look into getting them stored elsewhere, even if temporarily. If you have another property already, put it there. Otherwise, consider putting it into a storage facility. See https://www.storagekingusa.com if you’re considering this option.
Make sure everything works
The buyer is loving the place so far! The front of the house was to die for. (Such perfectly cut grass!) The living room looked spacious and full of potential. But it’s getting a little bit dark in here. They go to turn on a light and… nothing happens. The lights aren’t working. Something has gone wrong with the power in your house.
If there are problems such as this with your home, buyers will be put right off. If the water from the kitchen tap betrays faulty plumbing, they’ll dismiss all the other positives they saw. If the house doesn’t have the power running smoothly, they’ll just see that as a potential hassle and expense. Make sure all the utilities in your home are checked for any problems. Without basic functionality, your house will look a bit useless! If you need electrical checks and repairs, visit for more information.
It’s time for spring cleaning
Do you remember the film Snow White and the Seven Dwarves? There’s that scene where Snow White walks into the dwarves’ home to find it filthy. It’s dusty, there are dishes to be done, the windows are mucky. So she gets working hard to clean the place up, enlisting weird magical forest creatures to help her with the chores. Basically, that’s exactly what you need to do. Except without the magical animals. Unless you can get animals to do that, in which case, please go right ahead. (And put it on YouTube, please.)
Don’t give your house the quick, last-minute clean you give it before your parents come to visit. No sweeping anything under the bed! You have to go through the entire house and clean as if you were trying to sell your house. Which is exactly what you’re trying to do, remember? Get rid all the dust. Wipe the tables, the skirting boards, the furniture. Get rid of any cobwebs lurking in your corners. Wash the windows inside and out and polish all the mirrors. Don’t skip anything – buyers may want to look everywhere. That means giving the oven and the microwaves a good scrub too. If you’re too busy, websites like http://www.maidintheusa.com let you hire a cleaner to sort it all out.
Shine a light
Your buyers shouldn’t be struggling to see anything in your home. People like a lot of natural light when they’re looking for a new place, so make sure you’re letting as much of that in as possible! Keep all of the curtains wide open. If there are any trees or plants casting a shadow into the home, clip them.
You should also make sure (on top of ensuring they actually work) that your light bulbs are bright enough. A dim light bulb makes a room look dull. Replace them with brand new, high-wattage light bulbs.
Got all of that? Good! Your home should now be ready to show. Best of luck to you!
