One question we often get asked here, is “What can I do to make sure I get TOP dollar when I sell my home?!”
The answers aren’t as complicated as you might think!
Let’s look at the top THREE ways you can do this!
Decluttering and Thorough Clean
The first step would be to get rid of any unnecessary clutter in your home including in the closets, storage areas and garage. Ensuring your main living areas and your outdoor space are clutter-free, allows you to better showcase the space and makes your place feel bigger and more appealing. Making sure even your storage areas are organized and clutter free allows buyers to see how those spaces can be maximized. Remember the buyers are buying your HOME and not your STUFF. Less is more!
Part of decluttering, (you may not have considered this one) – is Depersonalizing your home. What does this mean? This means taking down your family photos and personal mementos. When a buyer comes into your home they are trying to picture THEMSELVES living there, and you don’t want them getting distracted.
When it comes to cleaning, we’re talking about much more than just a bit of dusting and vacuuming. Doing a deep clean throughout your entire house is an important part of making a good impression on potential buyers. Often times buyers will make quick judgements on a dirty home and assume if the owners haven’t taken the time to clean, that maybe they have neglected other important maintenance of the home! Most good Realtors will tell you this is an important step to getting your home ready. What MY team does, for example, is we actually hire professional cleaners the second we get a new listing so the home owners have one less thing to worry about!
Believe it or not, doing this can deliver a 3 percent to 5 percent return on investment!
Repairs and Minor Updates
We’re not talking about redoing your entire kitchen or bathroom, I’m talking about the simple stuff that gives you the best return.
Sometimes this means simple projects such as freshening up your paint, repairing flooring, changing light fixtures or adding a few flowers to the yard. In some cases it could also involve larger, more costly projects like upgrading your cabinets, replacing windows or installing new flooring.
Some updates bring a better return than others so it’s important to know what these are. A good Realtor will help you determine how to add value to your home instead of just burning your money. One of the very first things our team does when we list a home, is make a list of these suggested updates as soon as we’ve met the sellers, so they know exactly what to focus on.
Staging
Most people have heard the term but not everyone knows what it really is or why it’s so important.
Simply put, home staging is using things such as art, greenery, lighting, accessories, furniture pieces and other accent objects to improve a home’s appearance and create a more attractive first impression for potential buyers.
And whether you’re trying to sell a house, apartment, or townhouse, professional staging can help sell your home faster.
Most agents won’t typically offer staging as part of their service, because stagers can be very expensive, so it’s important to find one that will. In fact this should be one of the first questions you ask when you are choosing your Realtor. Our team for example stages nearly every listing, totally included in our service because we recognize the huge value in this. Check out our full blog post and video on staging here.
We can work with you to make sure things are done impeccably, giving you that extra peace of mind.