The Ultimate Guide To Preparing Your Home For Buyers

Selling your home can be stressful and nerve-racking. “What are people going to think of my home?”  or “Is that smell going to stay around during the showings?” 

There is a lot of stress and preparation involved with getting your home ready to list. It sometimes feels like the list is never-ending and always so long. You have to declutter and clean everything from top to bottom. It is definitely well worth the work to get the top dollar value of your home when you come to sell it. Right here in this blog, we will go over a lot of large ticket steps to help you with this long process. We will talk about some of our key tips and tricks that will make your home shine with beauty! 

Put Yourself In The Buyers Shoes

Putting yourself in the shoes of the buyer is the best first step. Either you can do this or you can ask a friend who hasn't lived in your home to do a walkthrough. Doing this will show you things you may have never noticed before. Start from outside your home and grab yourself a pen and paper. Start to tour your home like this is the first time you are stepping foot into it. (this part may be hard to do) Start to look at the baseboards up to the rafters. Look for any dirty or damaged areas then put them on that pad and paper. Keep an eye out for any imperfections small or large the more the merrier. Look into every room of your home even the basement utility rooms. After you have looked throughout the home move to the exterior and do the same things.  After you are done you should have a great list of things to start working on. Take each item at a time and start the satisfying process of completing that list! 

Getting Rid Of Clutter 

Clutter just shows that you live in your home. Most homes have a fair amount of clutter around them like shoes, laundry, toys, newspapers, and extra furniture. Moving this clutter into places where the potential buyer won't see will give your home a clean and open feel that is welcoming and inviting. One of our main tips in this section is that you should be able to see every baseboard that can be seen. Seeing the baseboard gives the buyer that open and clean feeling in the house. A great spot that you can start to store all this clutter is in boxes in your garage. The buyer won't think anything of this cause at the end of the day you are in the process of moving.

Smells 

Another great part of getting your home ready to sell is making it smell good. Sometimes when you own pets or if your home is lived in it can have an unwanted smell. Cleaning the home is a great way to help get rid of this smell. An ever better way of riding the smell is to deep clean your carpets. Sometimes carpets will hold smells from spills or even just shoes. We don't recommend putting smelling scents in each of the rooms cause it may give the feeling that you are hiding something. Instead, before you have a showing bake some fresh cookies or a good loaf of bread to give a subtle but pleasant smell in the home. 

Lawn & Garden Care 

If your home isn't a member of a local HOA you are used to handling your own lawn and garden care. While you are in the selling process it is a smart idea to make the outside of your home look the best it possible can. This is going to be the first impression they have of your house. If you have a grass lot full of overgrown grass and weeds you are already off to a negative start. Whether that is updating your garden and landscaping or just making sure to keep your grass low and neat. Other things that can help the exterior of your home are moving cars from the driveway, closing all windows, Sweeping the walkway and driveway, stowing toys and seasonal decor, and clearing up and straightening any outdoor furniture. 

Other Tips 

This last little section of this blog just has a bunch of little tips and tricks to help you with this process. Some of those are having all lights on and installed with a warm light. There is nothing worse than walking into a house and they have the BRIGHT sterile lights that make you feel uncomfortable. Another great tip is to incorporate plants and flowers into your home. This gives an earthy and welcoming feel to your space. Another small detail is having clean neutral towels hung up in your bathrooms. You should also have your bed made with a normal comforter, if your kid has a ninja turtle comforter turn it inside out and have the solid cover showing. You also should make sure your windows and mirrors are clean and open. People wanna see what the neighborhood and your neighbors are like. Another step that will help people feel welcomed is taking down family pictures that are around the house.

Resources 

If you're like me and you aren't the biggest fan of cleaning or getting your home ready to show. We have some resources that can help you with this process. They are the best in the business and have turned homes from hideous to glamorous. They will even pack some of the clutter and deliver it to your new place of residence. If you think that you are in over your head or just don't wanna spend your time working through that list. Don't be afraid to reach out for help! 

      To sum up it's always important to clean and declutter your home before it's time to take photos and have people start touring. Whether you do a complete overhaul of your home or a few little things here and there it is good that you are thinking about this and making steps in the right direction. Selling your home can also be stressful and tiring with the constant cleaning and people coming in and out of your home. If you ever feel like it's too much for you reach out to a trusted specialist that can serve you!