When your home is up for sale, you want to make sure that it appeals to as many potential buyers as possible. Adjusting some of your decor choices, removing clutter, and maintaining cleanliness are all parts of how you can achieve the best appeal. Thankfully, adjustments to help stage your house don’t have to be pricey or labor intensive.
Start Outside
The first thing anyone sees when visiting your property is the outside. For a lot of people, the exterior of a home can make or break their sale. Hook the interest of potential buyers who may just be passing by and entice them to come check out your home. Clean exterior windows, repair broken shutters, and power wash your siding. Keep your grass tidy and your flower beds weed free and full of lively plants. Your outdoor furniture should be clean and free of rips, tears, and spider webs. Most importantly, make sure the lawn areas surrounding your home are free of clutter, debris, and any dangerous materials.
Kitchens Sell Homes
If you’ve heard it once, you’ve heard it a million times: kitchens sell houses. The kitchen holds a high level of importance to potential buyers. Staging your kitchen doesn’t necessarily mean you must spend a ton of money on renovations. Deep clean the areas missed during your routine cleaning schedule. Remove the dust from the tops of cabinets, wipe down and organize under the sink, and scrub the areas where your appliances meet the counters. Move your refrigerator and stove to clean and mop behind and underneath. Replace any dim or burnt out light bulbs, put away your sponges and cleaning products, and remove the magnets and clutter from your refrigerator door.
Bathrooms Count, Too!
Bathrooms can be one of the most cluttered, dirty, rooms in your home due to the amount of use it sees daily. Pay attention to this area when staging, especially if your bathroom is on the smaller side. Remove hampers, large trash cans, and other items that could cause odors. Wipe down your shower tracks, around the toilet and sink, and along the baseboards. Clear off your counter-top and neatly store makeup, toothbrushes, and other personal grooming items within the bathroom cabinets. Display fresh, neutral hand towels and replace mildewed or worn shower curtains and bath mats.
Bedrooms Should Be Bedrooms
When buyers walk up to an advertised three-bedroom home, they expect to find three bedrooms inside. If you’ve turned spare bedrooms into an office, play room, game room, or craft space, you should turn those living spaces back into bedrooms. Potential buyers want to envision themselves utilizing each room as quickly as possible. Removing any doubt regarding size or purpose of the bedrooms allows them to focus on the positives of the space. Organize clutter and tone down colors that could be overwhelming to a buyer.
Clean Out Your Closet
Potential buyers will take the time to open your cabinets and look inside your closets. Remove clutter and take the time to organize your personal items. Get rid of clothing you no longer wear and pack away seasonal clothing you don’t currently need. Switch out old hangers for a set that match and purchase racks to keep your shoes off the floor. It is a good idea to rent a storage unit to keep all your sporting gear, seasonal decor, and family heirlooms from taking up valuable closet space.
Living Room Touches
The shelves in your living room should be free of personal items and collections. Your display of collectible dolls may be your pride and joy but can prove to be a major distraction to potential buyers. Remove large, unnecessary furniture pieces to keep the space from looking small and cluttered. Rearrange your couches to create a cozy, conversational setting. Use a few slip-covers to spruce up any couches or chairs that have seen better days. Open curtains to let in natural light and brighten up your living space.
Your real estate agent is the best source of information about the local community and real estate topics. Give Candy Vaughn a call today at 615-778-1818 to learn more about local areas, discuss selling a house, or tour available homes for sale.
