Taking the time to prepare your home for sale, increases your chance of selling it fast and maximizing your profit. A few repairs, cleaning, decluttering, and some staging are often all that are needed to reel in interested buyers.
While it may take some time and money to get it ready to list and show, the outcome will be worth it. And, to ensure your attention is focused in the right area, this article explores tips that will help you prepare your home for sale.
Make a Plan for Repairs
One of the first things you want to do in preparation for selling your home is to make a plan. Take a walk through your home as if you were an outsider, making note of any repairs that need to be made. Do this inside and out, room by room.
You want your appliances and light fixtures to all be working. Creaking doors, leaky faucets, cracked bathroom tiles, and random holes in the wall — these should be addressed before showing the property. If not, each little thing that the buyer would have to fix could very easily become their bargaining chip for a lower sale price.
Make a list of repairs that need to be addressed. Then, get to work.
Clean and Declutter Your Space
If you have lived in your place for a very long time, it is easy to accumulate stuff. Unfortunately, it doesn’t matter how well you have decorated or organized, having too much in your space can take away from the beauty of the home through a buyer’s eyes.
Make sure that the furniture fits the size of the room while still being able to maneuver through it. Keep all windows and doors free and unblocked. A few other things to consider when decluttering include:
- Clear off your kitchen counters
- Remove extra furniture, such as end tables
- Get rid of things that do not match the space
- Declutter bookshelves and other shelving
Don’t just stick to the indoors — declutter outdoors, as well. If you have too much furniture or junk stacked on your front porch, back patio, or even in the yard, clean it up.
Remove Any Personalization
During a showing, you want the potential buyer to be able to imagine themselves in the home. But, this is tough to do when all they see are your family photos throughout the space.
Remove any signs of personalization, including photos, portraits, memorabilia, diplomas, certificates, CDs, records, DVDs, hobby supplies, and so forth. In other words, you want to create a space that allows someone to walk into the home and not be able to tell anything about you.
Staging Your Home
Staging is highly valuable in home selling, both for marketing and for showings. Those who use this tool tend to sell faster and better than those who don’t.
A home that is staged just right offers a good first impression and allows the potential buyer to envision living there. This is how you get them to want your property.
Your real estate agent is a great source when it comes to properly staging your home.
Sell Your Home with Shepherd Homes Group
As the top real estate team in Northern Virginia, we know a thing or two about getting your home sold. The goal? Minimal time on the market with maximum profit. To learn more about preparing your home for sale with Shepherd Homes Group, contact us today at (703) 997-1462.
