Preparing Yourself And Your Home To Sell

There are a lot of details to take care of before you list your home and show it to prospective buyers. To help you prepare yourself and your home, check out these tips.

Prepare Yourself

Some might think repairing, improving and staging your home is at the top of the to-do list. However, preparing yourself psychologically for the process ahead is really the first step. If you aren’t ready, your emotions can prevent you from selling. Many sellers are surprised by the emotions that surface as they pack up and say goodbye to their homes.

It helps to focus on the end goal: finding the right buyer and closing the deal. Think of the process as selling a house, not your home. It will become easier to look at your property objectively as you remove personal items and start staging to attract buyers. When you start showing your home, potential buyers and their agents may be overly critical. Try your best to react to those types of comments in a neutral fashion. Plus, your agent can use those insights as negotiating tactics or to improve your listing.

Repair and Replace

This is the time to fix all those little items that you’ve had on your to-do list for years. Have a latch that doesn’t work, a leaky toilet, or a faulty electrical outlet? It might seem small, but potential buyers may see them as a sign that the home hasn’t been properly maintained.

There is a big difference between making minor and inexpensive “polishes” and “touch-ups” to your house and doing extensive and costly renovations. Be careful about how much money you spend. Buyers will be impressed by a brand-new roof, but they aren’t likely to give you enough extra money to pay for it. However, there are some home renovations buyers will love that can help increase your selling price.

De-clutter and Clean

De-cluttering helps minimize or eliminate distractions that could otherwise take a buyer’s focus away from the things that really matter. Toss or sell anything you aren’t planning on taking with you. Clear out closets. Overstuffed closets send a signal to buyers that the house might not have enough storage.

Garages, most basements, storage areas and laundry rooms all need similar treatment. Don’t forget about your lawn, too. Curb appeal is important.

Cleaning is critical after you have finished de-cluttering your home inside and out. Really scrub and polish every single area from top to bottom, removing dust and dirt in every crevice. Don’t forget to look up, too. Remove cobwebs, dust moldings, replace burnt-out light bulbs, dust existing bulbs and polish light fixtures.

Stage Your Home

One of the most powerful ways to make buyers want to purchase your home is to stage it well. It can be as simple as cleaning, removing extraneous items and repainting. Or it can require storing belongings off-site, redecorating, and even renting furniture and art.

Staging helps potential buyers envision your house as theirs. Your goal is to help buyers linger in each room and absorb its features.

Staging tips:

Consider the view from each doorway. How can you encourage visitors to step in each room? A small scenario often works, such as an arrangement of an easy chair and lamp that is partially visible from the door.
Use fresh flowers that are visible from the door to entice visitors to enter the room.
Make sure seating is arranged so it is open to visitors, not with backs to them, which can discourage them from entering the room.
If your furniture is badly outdated or worn, consider storing it and bringing in a few bright, clean rental pieces.
For more advice, check out these staging ideas to make your home more memorable to buyers.