There are many homes for sale. How can you make your house stand out amongst all the homes for sale, condos for sale, and other real estate competition? Your realtor will have excellent strategies, but here are few tips from people who’ve done it all before on how to make your home irresistible.
Move Your Heart On
If you concentrate on what you’re leaving behind, you won’t be able to move forward. While it might seem hard, don’t spend your time wallowing in old memories. Focus on the future and what you’ll do with the new space you’re moving into. Picture yourself enjoying it with friends and family. When your heart is on the future space, you can disassociate from the current space. Then it won’t hurt so much to pack up all your personal effects. If you want your place to be at the top of the list of homes for sale, you want potential buyers to be able to see themselves in your house. If the walls are covered with your memories, they can’t picture making their own. If the house is filled with your furnishings, they’ll have trouble envisioning how their pieces could work in the space. You might not be able to remove everything, but do remove anything that is broken, or too “unique.” You might think that a bright purple armchair is gorgeous: not everyone will think this way. You want to make it as easy as possible for any potential buyer to be able to see himself or herself in your house.
Invest in Some Landscaping
The outside of your house and the curb appeal make a huge difference when it comes to setting your home apart from the mass of other homes for sale. Almost 90% of realtors recommend homeowners invest in landscaping before they try to sell. Buyers won’t even get out of real estate agents’ cars if they don’t like the way a house looks from the outside. Do everything you can to make your home as appealing from the outside as it is on the inside.
Consider Minor Indoor Remodels
More than half of all buyers say they would be willing to pay more for a house with some hardwood floors. One of the most important things to buyers is finding a home they don’t have to renovate and which has no problems with plumbing or electricity. The kitchen and the bathrooms especially are valuable places to remodel, and a small investment can have big returns later on.
Make the House Clean
This should go without saying, but you must clean a home before you try to sell it. If cleaning your home from top to bottom is too big a job for you, hire someone to do it for you. Make sure you pressure wash the sidewalks and the outside of the house. Wash all the windows and put new caulking around tubs, showers, and sinks. Polish all of the fixtures, and make sure the floors have been vacuumed, dusted, and waxed if necessary. Dust can easily accumulate on ceiling fan blades and light fixtures. Worn rugs should just be thrown out, and a bit of bleach on that dingy grout in the bathroom will make it shine again. The kitchen is one of the biggest selling points of your house, so it’s especially important to make this room spotlessly clean and organized.
Remove Anything You’re Not Willing to Leave
If you are actively showing your house, understand that some buyers will suddenly set their hearts on those curtains or that built-in appliance. If there’s something that you would never consider parting with, it’s a great idea to take it down before you start showing rather than run the risk it could torpedo your deal later on when a buyer really wants it.
There are a lot of things you can do to make your house stand out from all the other homes for sale. These are just a few of them, and though they’re small things, they can make a really big difference.
