4 Ways to Prepare Your Home For Sale
When selling a home, it’s important to keep in mind that presentation matters. You want your home to look its very best so that buyers get excited and start thinking about moving in right away.
Did you know that 97% of buyers are not able to visualize a home? That’s why it is so much more important to take care of the visual appeal and put in that extra effort to get the WOW factor.
Here are a few tips for making your home appealing and welcoming to buyers.
Stage Your Home
Most homebuyers will get most excited about a place where they’ll be able to move in, unpack, and immediately start their new lives. So, you want your home to look as finished as possible.
Staging your home to appeal to buyers may include arranging your furniture in a way that shows off the size of each room, or even buying new furniture that presents your home in its best light.
This is a good time to replace any light fixtures or appliances that need updating. If your home is wallpapered or painted any unusual colors, you may want to replace them with neutral options. Remember, a buyer is looking for a home that they can fill with their personal touches, and they may not see as many opportunities to do that if yours are still there.
Make it Smell Nice
This may seem like a small detail, but it matters! Buyers usually decide if they are interested in a home within the first few minutes of visiting it, and a strange smell can change their minds fast! So, empty the trash, use air fresheners, and consider baking something delicious right before a showing.
Clean Up
A home that is messy or that looks lived-in can make buyers uncomfortable. While your home is listed for sale, make sure to keep it nice and tidy. Make all beds, vacuum, and keep the sink clear of dishes. The fewer signs of you there are in the home, the more “at-home” a buyer can feel while viewing it.
Don’t forget about the outside, either–a buyer’s first impression of a home is how it looks from the street. So, keep the lawn mowed and the driveway free of garbage bags or signs of landscaping. A fresh coat of paint can make a difference, too!
Vacate
You’ll want to give a buyer plenty of room to imagine their new life in your home, so make sure you’re not around while your home is showing. When your agent lets you know that a potential buyer is planning on visiting your home, plan on being elsewhere. And take your pets with you, too!
