How to Spruce Up Your Home for a Quick Sale

We all want a quick offer when we list our homes for sale but that isn’t always the case. In fact, while some houses hit the market and have an offer within days, some properties in the Fairbanks and North Pole area can sit on the market for months. What makes the difference between homes that sell quickly and ones that longingly wait for a buyer?

In one word, Presentation!

The following are some things you can do to increase the chances that your home will be snatched up quickly.

Clean it up and clear it out. Pack your home up and clear it out. If you are still living in the home while you are selling it, leave only the bare minimum that you can be comfortable living with. Pack up the knick-knacks, the collection of DVDs, the linens in the hallway closet and anything on the kitchen counter that you don’t use EVERY SINGLE DAY. Don’t forget the toys! If you have kids, pack up as many of their toys as you can get away with. Toys in general, unless stored in a covered toy box (i.e. out of sight) can become an eyesore or a mess that will constantly need to be cleaned up before showings. You want a home that is as cleared as possible so that potential buyers can come in and see a clean, uncluttered home and imagine themselves living there. Not everyone looks at a home and sees the potential it has.  Sometimes buyers need a little encouragement.

As for your things – you may want to rent a storage unit to hold everything until your house sells.  At the very least, pack everything up in the same kind/size of boxes and stack it up neatly in either the basement or the garage, somewhere out of view.

Put away family pictures and mementos. Although you love to look at your family portraits every day, if they see the smiling pictures of your family all over the walls a buyer is going to think of your home as, well, your home. Pack them up for now and opt for artwork that accents the furniture and the room – a city scene or a few abstract pieces.

Consider your wall color. True, some buyers love a bright red wall. I, personally, love bright, bold colors. But the majority of buyers are going to look at a bold wall color as an eyesore – especially if it’s a terrible color. You may love that retro olive green paint you covered the kitchen walls in, but it’s going to deter buyers from choosing your house. Sure, they could just paint over it but buyers aren’t going to want to know they have a lot of work to do before they can make the house their own. Light, neutral colors – tans and beiges – are visually pleasing and make any home feel more warm and comfortable. If in doubt, chose white. Plain white walls are clean and fresh. Let the buyer determine what colors the home may be from there.

Side note: Make sure that your walls are clean. Wipe them down with a cloth dipped in hot, soapy water. No matter what the color, a wall that is dirty can be a deal-killer for any buyer.

Look at your floors. Your floors are going to be one of the first things the buyer will notice. Are they tile, hardwood, laminate, carpet? And what is the condition? Your home will get an offer based on what a buyer thinks it is worth. If they’re going to have to be replacing the hardwood or updating the carpeting soon after buying the home, they’re going to take that into consideration when they write an offer – if they write an offer. It is not always recommended that the flooring be replaced, however. Your realtor will let you know what the best options are for your home so that you can decide what fits into your budget.

Take the time to do the little touch-ups.  Go through your house with a fine-tooth comb. Repair anything that you may have had on your to-do list – fix the piece of the door frame that chipped, replace the kitchen cabinet door knobs that you’ve been meaning to replace since that one knob went missing last year, address the squeaking hinge on the door to the garage . . . you know, the little things that you have learned to live with but that a potential buyer is going to notice immediately.

Create an inviting front entrance. It is the first thing a buyer sees when coming into your home. It is their first impression. Make it a good one! Make sure your front porch is swept or shoveled and cleared. Put down an eye-catching welcome mat. Put some kind of décor beside your front door (a potted plant on a pedestal or even an outdoor chair with a décor pillow. If it’s Halloween or Christmas, try a clever display of jack-o-lanterns or a small, pre-lit Christmas tree). As for your front door, make sure it is in tip-top shape – paint any chips you find and give it a nice doorknob. Make sure your front porch light is working and clean.

Light it up and leave the home. It is recommended that you, as the seller, not be there when the house is shown to prospective buyers. It should be a time when a buyer can talk openly with their realtor about the home they’re looking at and it may be intimidating with you in the next room. Take that time to run errands or grab lunch or dinner with friends or the family. But before leaving, turn on all of the lights. Buyers shouldn’t have to stumble through the house looking for light switches, especially if they are in quirky places. A well-lit home is warm and inviting to buyers and draws them in.

Have any tips that helped your home sell faster? We’d love to hear them. Click on “Leave a Reply” above and tell us!

If you are looking to put your home up for sale contact Scott Rosenthal’s office today!

(907) 452-6387

rosenthalrealestatellc@gmail.com