When it comes to selling your home, thorough preparation makes its own luck. So, before putting your old home on the market, there are a few simple things you can do to make it more inviting to prospective buyers. What’s more, these tips should help you complete your pre sale house preparation both on time and budget. And the secret of getting ahead is getting started.
So, start with reducing the clutter. Get some boxes and pack up all those little knick-knacks and keepsakes room by room. Everything you’ve decided you no longer need – donate, sell or simply throw away. Neatly line up your footwear and make sure there are no magazines, stacks of mail, newspapers or books on the shelves and worktops. Removing bulkier pieces of furniture might help create a more open and cleaner look that is usually more appealing to the customer.
Next, make any necessary repairs, ranging from a leaky roof or broken window to minor ones, such as loose doorknobs, broken hinges and burned out bulbs. Never underestimate the importance of the little tweaks and cosmetic touch ups – fixing holes and scuffs in walls or little dents in the floor could make a huge difference in the mind of your potential buyer.
Time to depersonalize the space! Remove any art, décor and family photos so that prospective customers are able to picture their own stuff and themselves actually living in this place. As for the walls, repainting them a neutral colour, anything from tans to earthy tones, will make the buyer feel more comfortable and focused on other important features of your home.
People don’t buy for logical reasons. They buy for emotional reasons. That is why a display of fresh flowers, a delightful smell of baked cookies or finely arranged scented candles could go a long way.
You know how they say, A house that does not have one warm, comfy chair in it is soulless. Add some soul by staging a vintage rocking chair and a book in en empty corner of your home. Ultimately, it is the art of making your space look warm and cosy that sells the house.
Finally, make the whole house sparkle! Clean and polish everything from windows to mirrors and taps. Vacuum the carpets. Remove the cobwebs and dust everything off. Wax the floors. If you are already pressed for time, consider hiring a cleaning service that will do a thorough and efficient pre sale cleaning of your home.
The time has come for you to detach emotionally. Say to yourself, It’s a privilege to wake up in this house that existed before us, and will exist after us. Now, do one final check up to make sure everything is in a presentable state. Remember the words of Le Corbusier, the famous architect: space and light and order. That is exactly what your customer will want from their new home. And don’t hesitate to offer it to him. Because, If you are not taking care of your customer, your competitor will.