Imagine going to a wedding of a dear friends.  You get all dressed up with your significant other and head off to the church.  You enter the church and everyone is in shorts and t-shirts.  Worse yet, the honored bride and groom arrive five minutes late and they are filthy.  Apparently they were cleaning out the garage and got a little (lot) dirty. 

Bottom line, that situation would never happen.  Seller's with a home on the market should have the same mindset about their property.  Think of it as a formal occasion for the home and it needs to be looking its best in order to attract the highest possible price.  The following are ten tips to help make buyers more interested in your home.  Some tips are easy and will cost the sellers little more than sweat equity.  Others might require a small financial investment or a professional to tackle the task.  If you want top dollar for your home, it would be a good investment to make those changes to anything that dates your home.

  1. A Clean Slate:  Even though it might look like a clean house, make the extra effort to get the house as spotless as possible.  As one Realtor suggested, "Clean, clean, and then clean again."  Potential buyers will notice things a seller has come to live with such as cobwebs in the corner of the ceilings, dust on baseboards and a general lived in look.  That "LOOK" can spell trouble for a seller and loss of dollars in the final outcome of a sale.  Make certain windows are clean on both sides  and window coverings are in pristine shape.  When showing the house, make sure window coverings are open to show the buyer how much light comes into the house.  Clutter is a big problem in most homes, so accessories should be packed away and removed from the house to show as much space as possible.  You're going to have to move these items anyway; might as well get a start on it now!
  2. Shine On:  Those burnt out light bulbs that you were waiting for a rainy day to replace has come.  Replace all burnt out light bulbs and make sure fixtures shine.  Remove the dust from all light fixtures because they will show under the glaring eye of the "potential buyer."
  3. Nick of Time:  Walls, floors, and ceilings can have a nice or minor gouge in them from years of use and/or abuse.  These are easy to fix and replace.  Floors might be another matter.  Fix or replace broken tiles or gouged/chipped laminate.  Both are easily remedied.  Wood floors are heavy in demand these days so make sure these floors are refinished, polished, and ready to go!
  4. Fully Furnished:  That cozy feeling in the den may actually cause the buyer to feel claustrophobic.  Remove pieces of furniture in each room that don't go with the other furniture (Every room has at least one).  Give the feeling of as much space and freedom to walk about that room as possible.  There should be a flow, not a stoplight into each room from the other.  Rule of thumb is if it goes with the room and its decor, leave it.  Otherwise, give it the heave ho or store it elsewhere.
  5. Cluster Buster:  The many items that make a house a home can be potential interferences for a buyer.  Instead of proudly displaying your five generations of Smith's or Jones' photographs, take as many pictures, photographs, or pieces of artwork down as you can without making the walls feel empty.  This gives another "illusion" of more space and openness to a buyer.
  6. Counter Productive:  Once counters in the kitchen and bathrooms are cleared and de-cluttered, it might be time to look at new countertops.  It's amazing what they can do with laminates nowadays, but if you've got the bucks, go for a engineered stone or granite and watch the buyer's wife pull the husband's arm out of his socket and exclaim, "This is the house."
  7. Doors for Dollars: The entrance to the home is of major importance and real estate professionals are quick to tell sellers to be sure the entry to the dwelling is up to snuff.  Those first few seconds are of major importance.  Most buyers will know in the first 12 seconds that they spend at your front door if they want that house or not.
  8. Profitable Painting:  Take a good look at the house.  Does it need to be cleaned?  Does it need to be painted?  A house has to have curb appeal on the outside of the drive-bys of potential buyers will be a thing of the past.  If a house looks dirty or the paint job looks old, that sends up a red flag to the prospective owner that other things might be out of date as well.  Pressure washing or fresh paint is an investment in the house that most real estate professionals will say reaps better sales prices.
  9. Under Pressure:  If pressure washing is the fix for the outside of the house, it can also help the sidewalks, driveways and other walkways about the property.  A clean drive and a spotless sidewalk can welcome visitors interested in the house as a potential home.  Once done, make sure certain vehicles that tend to leak oil or other residues stay clear of the driveway.  A bit of cardboard underneath in the garage can also eliminate those oily messes. 
  10. Blooms for Buyers:  The first thing most interested buyers will see of the home is the front yard.  Take time to make that first impression count with neat landscaping that adds curb appeal.  Blooming flowers, mulched beds and trimmed foliage can be a welcome sight for someone interested in the home.  And it shows the homeowner is taking care of business. 

Good luck with the sale of your home.  If you are looking for a Realtor with cutting edge technology, Internet marketing expertise, ideas to sell your home that no other Realtor would suggest, please give me a call.  Thank you!