Selling your Home? Make your Home Stand out from the Competition
When you make the decision to sell your home, it can pay off to judge
your home with a critical eye and be willing to make some improvements
before you actually put up a for-sale sign. This will help prospective
buyers to see the real beauty of your home, help it stand out from all
of the other homes for sale in the neighborhood and even help your home
to sell faster and possibly for more money. This can be particularly
important in today's market in which buyers reign supreme.
Take the first steps with the front of your home. Either head out to the
yard to make some improvements on your own or consider hiring a
landscaping company to trim the trees and shrubs, add mulching and
freshen up everything. Give the mailbox a fresh coat of paint, replace
the house numbers and put the trashcans out of sight. These are all
relatively small changes but these improvements can help to entice
buyers into making an appointment to see your home.
Next, make some changes on the inside. Even small touches like high
quality silk plants or even real flowers will give your home that
magazine layout appearance. In addition, look toward the kitchen.
Remember this is the one room in the house that buyers usually look at
first and it is also the room that can bring the greatest return on
investment. Consider adding a fresh coat of paint, replacing the
backsplash or investing in some new drawer pulls. If the lighting is
outdated, replace it with something new and modern.
Have you ever noticed that the homes in magazines and model homes all
have one thing in common? The table is always set as if waiting for a
meal to be served. Setting a formal dining table is something most
homeowners never think of and yet it can make a big difference in
helping buyers to envision themselves actually living there.
You should also consider giving the front door a few fresh touches to
greet buyers when they arrive. Either re-varnish or repaint it and
polish or replace the hardware. These may not sound like big changes but
they can really give your front door a whole new life.
Go through your home room by room and ensure that each room of the home
has a focal point. This is something that many sellers do with important
rooms like the living room but they often overlook other rooms. A focal
point will help to draw buyers into that room and that can help them to
fall in love with it. At the same time, move some of the furniture out
of rooms and away from the walls. Give everything a critical once over
and if it seems that you have too much furniture, as most people do, you
may need to take some out altogether to keep rooms from appearing too
cluttered.
Many times, homeowners become accustomed to the look of their closets,
but when you are trying to sell your home, it is important to make sure
you take the time to clear out the clutter so they appear to be as
spacious as possible. Make a point to try to clear out at least 50% so
that buyers can see the actual storage potential instead of your
belongings. If you need to do so, consider renting a storage unit. This
is also a good way to get a head start on your packing.
While you are clearing out the clutter, try to remove some of your
belongings that personalize your home. Remember, buyers want to be able
to imagine themselves living in a home and that can be hard to do if
your family pictures are lining the walls and your children's drawings
are covering the refrigerator.
Finally, if you have any extra cash to spare, you might think about
hiring a home staging service to come in and professionally stage your
home. At one time, staging was considered to be a luxury service, but
today it is almost a must when trying to sell your home. If you cannot
afford to hire someone to actually stage your home, at least think about
hiring a home stager to come out and perform a consultation, a service
that usually costs less than a full staging.
Remember, every little thing you can do to make your home stand out from
the competition can help it to sell that much faster.
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