Whether you're expanding your family, accepting a new job opportunity or just need a change of scenery, selling your home can be stressful. Taking steps to make your property attractive to buyers will improve your chances of a quick sale.
Here are five things you need to do before you put your home on the market.
1. Improve Your Home's Curb Appeal
Don't underestimate the power of curb appeal. You'll turn buyers away if they aren't immediately drawn to your home the moment they pull up. Like it or not, buyers do judge a book by its cover.
If your home's exterior paint isn't looking its best, it may be time for a fresh coat of new paint. Plant flowers. Repaint the front door. Make your home's exterior beckon buyers to come inside and check it out.
2. Depersonalize Your Space
When potential buyers walk into your home, they need to be able to imagine themselves living in it. It's hard to do that when they see family pictures on the walls and your family heirlooms on shelves.
Make it a point to depersonalize your space. Eliminate distractions. Make your home a blank canvas – or at least as close as you can get to a blank canvas.
3. Make Important Repairs
Before listing your home, invest in making major repairs that may turn buyers away. Unless you're selling at the right price, buyers won't want to deal with roof repairs, leaking sewer pipes, foundation issues and other costly repairs.
Investing in roof repairs and new sewer pipe lining will pay off in the end by increasing the value of your home and make your property more attractive to buyers.
4. Repaint the Walls
A fresh coat of paint can completely transform the look and feel of a room, or an entire home. Repainting is one of the first things real estate agents recommend when clients are getting ready to sell their homes.
Experts recommend choosing neutral colors when repainting your home, like beige, gray, white, taupe or ivory. These colors are typically appealing to everyone, and lighter colors make rooms look bigger and more open.
5. Clean Inside and Outside
People who are selling their homes often joke that they have to keep their homes like a museum, and it's true. If you want to sell your home quickly, make sure your home is spotless – inside and out.
A good deep cleaning will make your home more appealing to buyers.
- Steam clean the carpets
- Dust
- Clean the oven
- Clean the refrigerator
- Polish wood floors
A home for sale can never be too clean.
Once you're done with the inside, move out to your yard and clean some more. A clean yard will improve your home's curb appeal.
Remove debris, clean up your lawn and make the exterior look tidy.
If you still have trouble selling your home, consider professional staging. Someone who specializes in staging will know exactly how to make your home more inviting to buyers. It's worth the cost to have your home staged if you need to sell your home quickly.