How to Get Your Home Ready to Be Sold
There are a host of reasons you might be looking to sell your house. It could be that you are moving to a new area as you have a new job, perhaps your family is growing and you need a house to accommodate for this, or maybe you just fancy a change. No matter the reason, if you are moving, you want to ensure your home is in the best condition possible so that it can quickly get sold. The last thing you want is to find your dream home but not be able to move in to it because you can’t get your house shifted off the market.
If you’ve never moved before, or perhaps not moved in a while, it can feel like a bit of a minefield ensuring your home is ready to be viewed and given the best chance for people to purchase it.
If you want to sell your house in Georgia, there are a few things that you should keep in mind to make the process as smooth and successful as possible. Before listing your house on the market, it’s important to do some research on the current real estate market in your area.
This is why we have put together some helpful tips that should encourage people to view and then make offers on your home. All without you having to spend a small fortune in order for this to happen. Read on to find out our top tips for helping to get your home ready to be sold.
Make Sure the Outside Looks Appealing and Presentable
As much as we like to think we are open-minded people, the majority of us abide by the “judging a book by a cover.” First impressions are a big deal and if someone turns up to a house to buy it, the exterior and the front is the first thing they are going to see and base their impressions on.
This is why it’s vital to make it as impressive and good looking as possible. There are a few things you can do here, including adding a garden path up to your front door, mowing the lawn, and adding in flower beds.
You could repaint your front door or get a new one if it’s past the point of repainting. These are all small things that can make a real difference to the look of the outside of the house. Repaint your windows and ensure the exterior, whether painted or made out of brick, looks clean and welcoming.
If your house is heavily damaged or has serious issues, it’s best to disclose these upfront and sell your house to a company that specializes in buying houses as-is for cash. Thankfully, if you are looking to sell a home quickly in St Louis, there are plenty of options available for you. This will save you time and money on repairs, while still being able to move on with the sale of your home.
Get Rid of as Much Clutter as Possible
When people are looking around your home, they want to imagine themselves living in it. This can be a hard thing to do if the place is packed with clutter and personal items. You want the house to look lived in and welcoming, but not too over the top with your belongings. One way to easily fix this is to start packing away items when you decide to sell.
This can help you to have a massive clear-out and decide what you want to bring to the new house with you, as well as make the space feel less cluttered for those that are viewing it. Items such as keepsakes and ornaments are things you will want to keep but aren’t necessarily needed in your everyday life. Therefore they can be packed away easily, but still kept safe.
Fix those small things you’ve been meaning to do
We all know what it’s like, once we’ve lived in a house for a while we get used to the little quirks and things it might have. Perhaps there’s a creaky stair you know to avoid, a drawer without a handle in the kitchen, or a light that doesn’t work.
No matter what it is, it’s easy enough for you to live with but might leave a bad impression on potential buyers.
To combat this, make time to go round and fix all those little niggles in the home. It shouldn’t take too long but should help to avoid any awkward or embarrassing encounters when the new potential buyers come across or question something in the house.
It shows you have taken good care of the property and that you want to sell it to them in good condition too, making them more likely to want to deal with you as a seller.
Make Sure the House Smells Nice
Smell is another of our senses that can really help in making a house feel welcoming and homey. When selling your house you want it to smell great, not for people to wrinkle their noses and want to get out as soon as possible!
For this, we recommended getting some air fresheners in, or investing in a couple of reed diffusers. You could also do something such as baking some cookies an hour or so before your first viewers are supposed to arrive.
This will instantly fill the space with warm, dreamy smells of baking that will have people loving walking around.
While you might think scented candles are a good idea, they can be a fire risk, so you could light them before they arrive and blow them out once they get here. The last thing you want is for a fire to break out when you’re trying to show people around your home!
Give It a Fresh Coat of Paint
Never underestimate the power of a fresh coat of paint! You probably don’t notice how tired paint might get until you start repainting an area of your home and can see the difference.
Repainting isn’t an overly expensive thing to do but can make a huge amount of difference. Whether you decide to repaint it in the same color or give it a bit of a refresh in a different shade, the choice is yours.
Just try to get any repainting done a few days before your first viewings as some people don’t like the strong smell of paint!
The same goes for if you’re re-doing any of the wallpaper in your home – we recommend you look at styles such as those which can be found here – try to get it done ahead of time.
Make the house look neutral so they can imagine themselves living there
As mentioned above, you want potential buyers to be able to easily picture themselves and all their belongings in the space. Once you have got rid of clutter, we recommend you also change up your home to be a bit more neutral.
If you have overly wacky design taste, it could be an idea to tone it down a bit as it can make spaces feel smaller and can also make people feel like it would be a big job to decorate even though it could just require a new lick of paint.
Neutral colors open up a space, make it feel larger and essentially help it to become a blank canvas that people can imagine themselves living in.
Do some work on the backyard space
If you have some backyard space in your house, be sure not to neglect this when selling your home. Of course, this is easier in summer than in the colder, wetter months but try to do what you can in order to make it look appealing.
You could tidy up the flower beds, mow the lawn, and even set up any garden furniture you have in your shed so they can picture themselves sitting out there.
Add some flowers or potted plants and think of adding some lighting such as fairy lights which can totally transform the space.
Decide what you will be leaving so you can tell the new buyers
If you are moving somewhere further away, or that includes these facilities, you might be considering leaving certain appliances behind.
Make sure you decide this ahead of time so you can ask potential buyers if they would be interested in things such as your cooker, fridge, or any other thing that you don’t want to bring with you.
This could be an extra selling point to the house so you want to have made your mind up on whether you want to sell or give it to them or not.
These are just a few of the top things you can do in order to help your home be ready to be sold. Remember, you want the new potential buyers to be able to imagine themselves living in your house so you should do what you can to make that easier.
Whether this means painting over your walls in a more neutral color or getting rid of mounds of clutter, this is up to you.
Purchasing a home is a very big decision for people so you want to help it be as easy and straightforward as possible. It’s up to you to decide whether to be in the house or not when they are being shown around by a realtor, so decide what would be best for you.
You could help with adding personal touches to the selling pitch, but it may also be hard hearing them say negative things about the house you love!
Have you recently sold your home? What are some top things you did to help the sale get moving that little bit quicker? Let us know in the comments below!