Selling Tips
By Suzanne Gwilliam, Realtor
It has been my experience that quite often, Sellers don’t really know what they can do to boost the saleability of their home. It’s really not that hard. You don’t have to spend a ton on upgrades. Here are a few low cost tips that will help move your home quickly.
First and foremost, hire ($$$) an excellent housecleaner to scrub your house down, top to bottom! I have seen the most outdated homes sell quickly because you could eat off the floor! The reason I recommend hiring someone is because they may notice things that you do not, like wiping down the blinds, baseboards and corner cobwebs. Buyers will notice that stuff, but because of your familiarity with the house, you may not.
If your house is sparkling and almost compulsively clean, Buyers will equate that to how you maintain the other parts of the house that they can’t see, like the roof and the heater and the A/C unit. Surely anyone who has gleaming floors, walls and cabinets would not tolerate a dirty air filter!! Clean house translates to well maintained house. Something you definitely want the buyer to think.
Number two on the list, is clean out the clutter. Don’t just clean off the counters and shove everything in the closets. Buyers open closets and cupboards because they want to see if all their stuff will fit. If they can’t see the floor or the back of the closet because that’s your hamper, aside from grossing them out, it won’t leave a very good impression about the house. If you remember from one of my earlier articles, the Buyers need to be able to imagine their stuff in your house. If they wouldn’t even walk into your closet, then they probably won’t want to imagine their stuff in there. Same rules apply to bathroom medicine cabinets and under the sinks. People look in those places too! Clean them out and wipe them down!
The easiest solution for clutter: get a storage unit. The first month is usually free and if you do what I say, then your house will sell quickly so you won’t be paying for it for months on end!! The time to purge has passed Now you just need to get it out of there. If you want to go through everything, you can haul it to the storage unit and do it there. Purging and going through all your stuff should really have been done a year ago. Now you just need to move out whatever is not essential and make your closets and cabinets look neat and tidy. And please keep in mind that attics, basements and garages are NOT storage units. Keep those areas clear so that, again, Buyers can imagine all their crap in there, sorry for the language, and not gawk at yours!
One of the cheapest and easiest things you can do to boost your house’s marketability is to let the sunshine in!! Take down outdated and dark curtains and blinds. Although this might require you to clean the windows, it will also make your house more open and airy. Dark rooms do not sell! We need light, people!! If you can’t replace the window treatments, that’s fine. Just put some clothes on so you don’t scare the neighbors! No, seriously, you need to let the light in. Especially in outdated homes, the outside trees might be an improvement to the wallpaper and chipped paint on the window sills. Clean the windows and let the sunshine in!
And last, but not least. If you are going to paint, go towards gray, not tan, and certainly not white! Gray is the way. Hardwoods or laminate trump carpet and above all, keep it sparkly!!! Good luck and if you would like a Free Consultation, just give me a call. I’m here to help get you where you want to go.
