Tips for Pre-Sale Preparedness

 

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If you have made the decision to sell your home and will be listing it soon you want your home to sell as quickly as possible and for the most amount of money.  By following these tips, you are sure to be successful in your home-selling endeavour and most likely with an edge over other sellers who may not have taken the time to prepare their property for sale. 

Curb Appeal
 

Curb appeal is a very important aspect of attracting serious buyers.  Beginning with what they see as they drive up, to what their experience is walking up to the front door – as a seller, your greatest opportunity to grab their interest lies in those very first moments. 

In the summer, pay attention to overgrown shrubs, trees, flowerbeds and hedges.  In the winter, make sure you have shovelled the driveway and walkways and kept clear of ice. Also make sure the storm door is in good shape and the doorbell works.

When the outside of a home looks unkempt it can give off a false impression of the rest of the home too.  You want your prospective buyers to see the home and fall in love at first sight – and that begins from the exterior.

Tip:  Make sure grass is watered, fresh and green. Clean up your lawn and driveway area.  Trim overgrown trees and vegetation, add some mulch or decorative rocks and flower pots for some color.  Decks should be stained.

Stage Your Home To Appeal To The Masses

Everyone who owns a home decorates it for their own personal preference. Staging helps you decorate your home to appeal to the greatest number of buyers.

Paint should be neutral colours. Make sure you paint your baseboards to freshen them up.

Regardless of whether you are still living in the space or the house is vacant, it’s important to have the house cleaned and devoid of all marks and blemishes. 

Windows and glass should be clean and smudge-free. Caulking around windows should be cleaned/replaced if necessary.  Walls should be without any scuffmarks, moving dents or other signs of wear and tear. 

Declutter your home. It is difficult for a buyer to picture their furniture in your home if it is cluttered. Remove personal photos, clean the counters and take everything off the fridge and other appliances. You can rent a storage locker for your excess belongings until your home is sold.
 
Tip:  Hire a cleaner to clean the house, the bathrooms, fixtures, kitchen, appliances, floors, walls and windows -- patch up dents in the wall and apply a fresh coat of paint throughout the home.

Address Aged Aspects of the Home

If you have some areas with older appliances, tiles with loose grout or any other things that need some updating, try to do so before putting up the house for sale.  Without taking on too large an expense, do make an effort to make the home presentable.

Tip:  Clean grout on older tiles, have loose tiles re-grouted, and freshen up shower stalls and bathtubs with new caulking.

The Home Should Be Warm and Inviting

Depending on where you are located, keep the temperate of the home at a comfortable level.  If it is too hot or cold, buyers will leave too quickly without getting ample time to walk through, see all the features and visualize themselves in the home.  If the home is still occupied, cook a pot of apples and cinnamon on the stove a few hours before the showing, so there is an inviting aroma throughout the house.

Tip:  In the summers, keep the air conditioning on at a comfortable 68 to 70 degrees.  In winters, leave the heating on at about 73 or 74 degrees.

 
Get a Second Opinion

Since you are used to the environment in the house, you may have turned a blind eye to some aspects of the home without even realizing it.  If you can ask your agent or someone else to walk through the home and make a note of any issues that may be visible then before the showing you can get an additional perspective on how the house presents.  Heed that person’s advice as much as possible and repair or address the issues that are brought up.

Tip:  Request a close friend, family member or your listing agent to walk through the home once you have prepared it for showing and provide a list of any issues or concerns that need addressing.

Have Professional Photos Taken

Since most buyers are looking on the internet before deciding to visit a home, having professional photos can entice more buyers into viewing your property. Make sure your agent has a professional photographer available to take photos and virtual tours before your home is listed.

Make Sure Your Home Is Accessible For Showings

The most important part of selling your home is allowing the highest number of potential buyers access to your home. If an agent or prospective buyer is from out of town and your home is not available to show, they may move on to the next house without returning to yours.

If you are listing with a real estate agent, they will no doubt ask you to leave when the house is being shown. Why? Because sellers being home make a buyer nervous – they don’t feel comfortable viewing the house when they feel like they are intruding.

If you own pets, try to remove them during showings. Nothing deters buyers like a large, barking dog. Also, many buyers are fearful of animals and may not give your home the attention it deserves if they know an animal is present.

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