The real estate market is incredibly competitive and ever-changing, which makes home selling difficult for most people. If you’re looking to move to another town, city, state or even a different country, the first thing you need to do is sell your house.
With the sale of your house comes the money that you’ll need to buy another one. Unfortunately, it can take a while for your property to be sold if it isn’t up to snuff.
According to a recent study done by Realtor the average home stays on the market for roughly 65 days before a buyer becomes interested enough to make an offer. By sprucing up your home and making it sale-worthy, you’re increasing the chance of it selling quicker than it typically would.
Here are five helpful ways to prepare your home for selling:
Contents
1. Your Home’s Decor
Your home needs to be plain, simple and yet beautifully decorated. If you go with a niche decorative style, you’re less likely to grab the attention of a potential buyer. For instance, dark rooms with modern and eclectic decor may be your current forte, but it may not necessarily be what every home shopper wants to see.
Start the preparation process by reducing the amount of decor that you have in the home to eliminate clutter and choose items that are neutral. Something as simple as modern and elegant fireplace media consoles can help elevate a living room area without it looking tacky.
2. Organizing Your House
When it comes to home selling, there is nothing worse to a buyer than walking into a house that is totally cluttered. They may want to take a good look at your closets and can’t get into them because they are so filled with boxes, junk and old clothing.
A survey done in 2014 by Gladiator GarageWorks which included 500 real estate professionals revealed that four out of five experts believe that a cluttered garage and home makes for a bad first impression of a property.
You can easily get rid of clutter by investing in storage boxes or simply throwing away or donating your unused items. If need be, consider renting space in a storage facility so that you don’t have to depart with your beloved things.
3. Keeping the Home Clean and Tidy
No one likes a dirty home, and this especially goes for any home buyer. If buyers come into a house that is full of dirt, dust and gross odors, it’s going to immediately turn them away.
When your home is up for sale, get in the habit of keeping it as clean and tidy as possible. This can be accomplished by putting yourself on a relatively strict cleaning schedule throughout the week. If you don’t have the time to keep your home clean while it’s on the market, you might want to think about hiring a maid service that can come in weekly to do the job for you.
4. Basic Home Repairs
In relation to a research done by Remodeling Magazine in 2014, you aren’t likely to recoup your money when doing major remodeling on a home you’re planning to sell.
The best way to improve the look of your home without spending and losing a fortune is through basic home repairs and improvement rather than full-on remodels. This could be as simple as giving the whole house a new coat of paint or quickly sanding and re-staining the wood flooring.
The key to home repair work in preparation of a sale is to keep things simple, affordable and yet effective. Nicole Fuller, an interior designer, recommends updating tired and outdated rooms to attract buyers.
5. Think About the Exterior
When we are determined to sell a house, we tend to focus on preparing the inside of the house, but the truth is that the first thing people are going to see is your lawn, gardens and landscaping. If your lawn is a disheveled mess, people will automatically get a bad first impression of what the inside of the property looks like.
It doesn’t have to cost you a small fortune to spruce up your yard. Get your mower and do some grass cutting, and don’t forget to trim those edges! Use a leaf blower to clear debris from walkways and driveways. Trim down overgrown bushes and trees, and don’t forget to add some beauty by incorporating a flower bed or rock garden.
Conclusion
If you put a lot of time and care into preparing your home before putting it up for sale, it will be easier to find a buyer. There is nothing worse than wanting to be out of a home quickly but having to stay there because the property is taking forever to sell.
After putting your home on the market, think about what you would like to see when shopping for a new house. This will help you determine what needs to be done to make your property appealing to potential buyers.
