Once you’ve made the decision to sell and it becomes time to put your home on the market, it’s easy to get overwhelmed and not know where to start. One of the first things our team recommends is contacting a real estate broker and having them come out to do a full assessment on your home. A professional broker can help you come up with a game plan for pricing, marketing, and how to present your home in the best light to appeal to the most buyers.
Must be Presentable
An essential aspect of selling your home efficiently is to make sure it’s in the most presentable condition. For some houses, this might mean updating a couple of things and perhaps hiring a contractor to finish up projects for you. This could include painting, landscaping, or replacing outdated fixtures. In other cases when a home is already in great condition, a little staging could be all it needs to create that “wow” factor.
Update your Lighting
The first thing you can do to make sure you are highlighting your home’s best features is to add lighting or update your current lighting fixtures. It is a small detail, but it makes a huge difference in photos and tours. Bright, warm lighting is key, so if you have bulbs that are burnt out or have a harsh blue effect, be sure to switch those out with something that has a more yellow tone. As for light fixtures, try to stick with the overall theme of the home. If your home has a modern theme, but you never replaced the ceiling fans from the 80’s, now would be the time to do it! Keep in mind this new lighting may accent less desirable features, such as stained carpet, so you may want to do some extra cleaning as well.
Create More Space
Another thing we recommend is to remove as much extra furniture and clutter as possible. You could sell or donate items you do not plan to take with you to the next home and start packing away as many personal items and décor as you can. We don’t want the space to be completely empty, but we do want buyers to be able to envision their own items in the space more effectively. If you have older furniture that you don’t plan to take to your next home, but are not quite ready to part with, purchasing a cover or some new, modern throw pillows and blankets might be a good option!
Brighten it Up
The next key to staging your space is window treatments – these make a huge difference! Throw away old blinds that are poor condition or make the room look dated, and open your curtains to let in the light. Again, we want to make the home look as bright and spacious as possible, so working with natural light is your best bet.
New Paint Job
If you have not already done this, painting all of the walls with a neutral, calm color is one of the most important things you can do. It makes such a massive difference, and the last thing you want is a potential buyer trying to figure out the price tag associated with painting. Once a buyer starts focusing on all of the projects they will have to invest in right away to make the home what they want, they are more likely to walk away.
Strategic Staging
Finally, making sure that all of your furniture and personal items are clean and accenting the space will also increase the likelihood of buyers being able to picture themselves living there. Have all your furniture face a focal point in the room. For a living room that might be a fireplace and in the dining room there might be a chandelier that the table is centered under. Be sure to clear off your counters and shelving units as much as possible so people can get the full effect of the space they will be able to utilize when the house is theirs!
More Resources
If you found this article helpful and you’d like to know more on how to prepare your house to sell, check out this blog that dives deeper into the selling process, or take a look at this blog on selling with your man’s best friend in mind.