Home > Home Sellers > Making Your Home Shine
You can woo buyers with a house that's "dressed for success." Little things mean a lot when you're trying to sell your house. The way you present your property to prospective buyers can make all the difference between success and failure. Intangibles often help a sale. The way the light gleams into a kitchen through a bay window can make buyers realize that they want a house with a bay window in the kitchen.
Enhancing Curb Appeal
The first impression of your house from the street is referred to as "curb appeal". If prospective buyers don't find your house appealing, they won't be interested in seeing what's inside.
How can you turn that first impression into "love at first sight?" Trimmed shrubbery and manicured lawns are as important as clean sparkly windows. If your house could use a paint job and you don't have the time or money to do it right away, then perhaps repainting the trim will update the entire faade. Painting the front of the house can also give the house a fresh appearance. This is not intended to fool or insult the buyer, but this is intended to sell your house; if a little paint can help then there is no harm.
Clean Up
Remember that first impressions are important. It is a good idea to have all your vehicles either in the garage or parked elsewhere, so those potential buyers can get the full impression. This is the time to be strict, if someone in the family is working on a car, a bike or a boat outside, now is the time to put them out of sight. Buyers are going to be looking closely at your front door; it ought to be clean, freshly painted and oiled so it swings smoothly. Brass or metal doorknobs should be polished until they shine bright.
If you can afford it, this would be a good time to hire someone to do some "spring cleaning", a heavy-duty overhaul of all the nooks and crannies.
If you have a door that inhibits movement from one room to the next, take it off its hinges and store it in the garage for the duration.
Check each room in the house for hazards. Make sure all extension cords are out of sight, and remove any potentially slippery throw rugs. Mini-blinds are not only inexpensive, but they're a terrific solution to all kinds of window decorating problems. If your curtains are a little worn or faded, replace them with mini-blinds. They give a room a fresh, modern look, and if you buy them in a color that matches the walls, the room will seem much larger. Be careful on the color you choose. Mini-blinds, usually, can be seen from outside and you do not want the color to clash with the outside appearance.
Kitchen and Bath
Buyers pay great attention to kitchens, closets and bathrooms; it pays to concentrate efforts in these areas. If you feel your kitchen cabinets aren't quite what you'd like them to be, sometimes, just putting new knobs and door handles makes a sensational improvement. Exciting reproductions of colored glass knobs and pulls are now available everywhere. Classic porcelain knobs are always fashionable.
Baking just before a potential buyer comes can leave the house with a warm and welcoming smell. Remember if you bake something, make sure you have a loud kitchen timer handy. It's quite easy to get distracted when you're readying the house for an inspection by a stranger, and the one smell you don't want in the house is that of baked goods burning. Potpourri is another way to keep you home smelling fresh and welcoming to the potential buyer.
A must, before you start showing, are new shower curtains for every bathroom in the house. Worn and tired shower curtains are a real turn-off. If you can afford it, buy a set of coordinating towels for each bath as well. This will help to give the feeling of a finished look. Keep this new set for show only, and tuck them away after prospective buyers leave.
The Little Things
If your Realtor® is conducting an open house, colorful floral arrangements can add a finished touch; avoid formality when you're seeing one prospective buyer at a time. To get some pointers on decorating successfully with flowers, study the home decorating magazines. Almost every room has perfectly placed bouquets.
Picture Perfect
Leafy green plants help. If you have plants that aren't in great shape, find a place to hide them while you're showing your house. Scruffy plants can make any room look messy. If you have an empty room that you need to fill, try using large plants. They can give a room a "lived in" feeling.
Your agent will usually show your house by appointment, but occasionally, a potential buyer may want to see the house right away. If your house is not as clean as you would like it to be, then you need to tell the Realtor® the prospective buyer can see the house in an hour or two, giving you enough time for a quick cleanup. It does you no good to show your house when it's dirty. If it's one of those days when the house is a complete disaster, tell your Realtor® the buyer will have to look at it another time. Knowing that a prospective buyer could show up at any time should give you plenty of incentive to keep your house in tip-top shape.
This is one time when pets shouldn't be around, even if your dog is your best friend. Before the prospective buyer arrives, put your pets in a safe place such as a pet carrier. Some people may not have the same love of animals as you do, or they may even be allergic.
Show Your House In Its Best Light
Turn all the lights on when your house is shown, even if it's a sunny day. If the weather is cold or rainy and you have a fireplace, have a fire burning steadily. Your house's finer points will shine through and you're bound to find a buyer that will say, "This is the house for me!"
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