Watch on your mobile device >>
If you’ve shopped for a home, chances are you’ve come across one that you really wish you hadn’t visited in the first place. True,
houses for sale ought to have a certain “lived in” quality to them,
because they are to be lived in after all, but the art of tactfully
balancing just the right amount of hominess with neutrality is not so
simple. You need to know what you’re doing when you prepare to
set up your house and show it to potential buyers. We’ve put together
some great tips for home-sellers so you can get the same results you’d
get by hiring a professional staging company.
Fix Up the Place
One of the biggest mistakes homeowners make before putting their house
up for sale is to neglect areas in the house that need attention.
Folks,
don’t leave that faulty step unrepaired, only for a potential buyer to
step on, slide off of or worse, get injured on – FIX IT! You might
think potential buyers won’t notice but they are walking around on your
premises like hawks, noticing each little detail. The good news is that
they are noticing the first-rate stuff too, so as long as you have the
home’s amenities in order and other major areas in tip-top condition,
you should be in good shape. Here’s how:
Get Rid of the Clutter
If you want to successfully sell your house, you need to get those
potential buyers to imagine they already live there. Too much clutter,
hobby-oriented items or personal possessions that most people may not be
able to identify with, can easily get in the way of that vision.
Organize things in stylish storage bins or better yet, have a garage sale before the open house and get rid of unwanted stuff.
You have to move soon anyway, why not kill two birds with one stone? A
clean and organized home will seem like a clean slate to buyers, who
can then see themselves moving in without much hassle and settle in
effortlessly.
Stay Neutral
Skip the tie-dye sofa cushions, shaggy 70s rug and don’t light incense
on the day of your open house. While you’re at it, don’t fill the space
with gender-specific things either.
Buyers should walk into a neutral ground – literally.
Light to medium colors, preferably in beige tones, are the simplest
way to pull buyers’ attention away from other personal aspects of your
home that they may not be able to identify with. Beige goes with almost
anything so if someone considering purchasing your home can imagine
their things in the space, then you’ve just crossed one of the most
major hurdles in home-selling – making a buyer identify with the home.
Make It a Modern, Inviting Environment
If you don’t already have them, invest in a few modern decorative
accessories to improve the look of your space while lending an air of
style and taste and making it more enticing.
It doesn’t have to take
much but depending on how you set it up, you can enhance a given space
with a few simple additions and deletions. Take your over-crowded
study and rearrange the bookshelf to display only a few strategic but
essential books, like a leather-bound set of encyclopedia or some
literature classics. In the same way, leave a few children’s toys in a
child’s room but be sure to display them tastefully.
Put a Few Finishing Touches in Place
The
idea is that you want your house to be sold – and you probably want it
sold fast. If you are careful to respect the people who are visiting
your space to decide whether it’s the right one for them, then you are
doing something that a lot of homeowners neglect to consider.
Taking
down a piece of controversial artwork that may make a potential
purchaser uncomfortable could be the one bargaining chip that could make
or break the sale. Arranging for all those who currently live
in the home to be away during the open house and while showing the house
being dressed in a way to present a good impression are also great ways
to tip the scales in the right direction.
It’s very simple. You need to make the potential buyer feel right at home from the get-go.
If
from the moment they walk in and smell cinnamon cookies baking makes
them wish this was already home – then you’re already two steps ahead
and can call the open house a success! Of course, a signature on
the dotted line is where the real success lies and as long as the buyer
feels at home, chances are that if everything else lines up – the sale
is a winner!
