How to get your home ready to be put on the market

Some ideas of how to get your home ready to put on the market from my perspective. I am not a licensed Realtor, nor am I a home stager. I have sold a home and I have photographed lots of homes. These are just a few tips that I came up with, I am not an expert. 

Getting your home ready to sell can be a frustrating time. Here are a few tips on what you should do before you put your home on the market.

I have been there, wondering how I can make sure that my home gets sold quickly and for the most money. I am sure that you have heard, Kitchens and Bathroom remodels can help sell your home. In addition, there is always the, location, location, location. Other than that, here are a a few ideas of what you can do to make sure your home looks its best to potential buyers.

De-cluttering is a huge step on the road to selling your home. I recommend giving yourself several months prior to putting your home up on the market, to de-clutter your home. When I sold my home, we rented a storage space to put all of the items that didn’t need to be in the home. Go through each room; pack up knick-knacks, excess furniture, toys, kitchen items, artwork, etc. Make sure that each room has enough furniture to show its intended purpose, but not too much to hide the size of the room. This means, if the room is supposed to be a bedroom, make sure there is a bed and maybe a dresser. One way to ensure that the home shows as current but not cluttered, is to go to a rent to own furniture place that rents by the month. Another way is to have each room staged by a professional stager. When it comes to rugs, less is more. You don’t want to have too many rugs, or potential buyers may think that you are trying to hide issues with the floor.

This home has too much furniture and you should NEVER cover over the fireplace.

Although this home is clean, the lack of staging really hurts it. A potential buyer viewing the photos on-line would have no idea that this is actually a large media room, wired for sound and ready to enjoy some movies. 

The next step is to De-personalize your home. Take down all photos that show family and friends, clean off your refrigerator of photos, menus, drawings. Paint or hire someone to paint your walls so that they are all a light neutral color. When I put my house on the market, I took photos that I had taken over the years of the house and neighborhood, blew them up to 11x14, framed them and put them throughout the house. I had photos of the house showing different seasons, some of the flowers in the yard and some events that took place near the house. This ensures that there are no personal items on the walls and it gives the buyers a true picture of the home and neighborhood.

This is a good example of staging and de-personalizing although you might not want to have this paint job.

Although you may love hot pink and purple, and do a whole wall artistically in tile, this could potentially turn off many buyers

The third step is to clean your home. This is very important especially right before photos are taken of your home. If you don’t have the time, hire a professional cleaning company to deep clean your home. Make sure to clean the cupboards, closets and shelving units inside and out. Sweep underneath all furniture and appliances. Make sure that all windows are sparkling clean inside and out, as well as all of the doors. Make sure the fans are clean and all the floors have been deep cleaned or polished. Make sure that there is no mildew or soap scum in the tub, shower, sink or on any of the fixtures. Change out all light bulbs that are not working.

 

As you can see, this kitchen has been cleaned, granite and stainless steel have been polished and the counter tops have nothing on them. You can leave a coffee maker or a toaster, but you want to keep it minimal. 

The fourth step is to ensure the exterior of your home is at its best. Power-wash the home and paint as needed. Trim trees and bushes so they are neat in appearance and that there are no dead branches. Mow the lawn and make sure that it is all raked and any ant hills have been treated. Remove all poop from your yard. Clean any lawn or deck furniture so if the potential buyers want to sit down and enjoy the area, they don’t end up with dirt or muck on their clothing. Have the pool cleaned. Clean flower beds and plant season appropriate annuals that have bright flowers, add mulch if needed. Sweep walkways, change out light bulbs and remove any toys or lawn ornaments. Remove broken or worn out wind chimes or bird feeders. Fresh and clean is how you want your home to appear. Curb appeal can make or break a home sale.

 

This is a great example of what the front of your home should look like. Clean, plants are trimmed and glass is clean.

This is a terrific back yard, flowers are blooming, grass is trimmed and everything is clean.

The final step is to keep up with all of the above. If you have children, limit their toys to ones that can be put out of sight in a closet or cupboard easily. If you have animals, take them and their cages, beds and toys with you. If that isn't possible, make sure that it is neat and has no smell. Animals should never be in the home when potential buyers are looking at it. You want your home to be as neutral as possible so buyers can picture themselves living there.

One additional thing is to make sure that your Real Estate agent hires a professional photographer who understands lighting and has professional equipment. If your agent takes photos of your home with their cell phone, it will not be shown on-line well and therefore, you will have potentially less people interested in looking at your home. The right photos on-line can sell your home just on their own.

I have photographed homes that were cluttered, had bright colors on the walls, had animals roaming around and were not clean. I have also photographed immaculate homes that had no furniture. You want your home to be somewhere in the middle, clean and neutral with furniture but no clutter. If you get your home ready properly, it will photograph well, it will impress potential buyers on-line enough that they will want to come view it.

Thank you for your time,

Rebecca

Check out my website: http://www.rebeccabphotos.com