Setting the Stage: A Sellers Guide
Presentation counts! Your home needs to appear welcoming and comfortable. It doesn't have to be a show place but "setting the stage" can help achieve a quicker sale and potentially a higher price.
1st Impressions.... Tour your home as if you are a prospective buyer
Starting Outside...Curb Appeal
The first look of your home will be from their realtor's car, so step across the street and look at the overall view of your home. Look at the yard, fences, windows, doors, roof and walls.
- Start with picking up and removing any papers or garbage that may be on the street.
- Tidy any flower beds, pots or gardens, keep the lawn mowed and shrubs trimmed.
- Sweep driveways, patios and decks, remove any extra clutter and arrange outdoor furniture attractively to give the impression of openness and leisure.
- Have any minor repairs done; sticky gates, doors or windows, loose door knobs, etc.
- Clean doors, windows, screens and awnings.
- Keeping garage doors closed look tidier and if you own a dog try to take it for a walk during the time of showings.
Moving Inside...Make it easy to explore
The hardest thing to do is to step back and look at your home from the buyer's perspective. After years of living in your home you become emotionally attached to things but remember cluttered houses appear smaller and unclean, which leads the buyer to imagine bigger problems or defects.
Prospective Buyers often don't know what to do while looking at a house so they tend to flick switches, flush toilets, turn on faucets and open cupboards and closets. Therefore you want to create as much clear space as possible; every little extra thing needs to be cleared away.
- Make the entry way welcoming and attractive by adding a healthy plant or picture, ensuring the doorbell works and the doormat is clean.
- Raise blinds and open curtains letting in as much light as possible, also ensure light fixtures are clean, that all switches work and wherever possible use 100 watt bulbs.
- Clean marks of the walls, remove stains from baths and basins and ensure tiles in both the kitchen and bathroom are sparkling.
- Repair dripping taps, squeaking doors, broken or lose tiles.
- Avoid leaving dishes in the sink or draining rack.
- Arrange furniture to make the room easy to enter and to appear larger.
- If you have pets remove the kitty litter trays or dog/cat food bowls.
Dynamizing your home...little things make a big difference
- Place a book or novel beside the bed
- Table settings like fabric placemats, attractive place settings or center pieces
- Fresh flowers around the house, like it is a special occasion.
- Soothing music softly played in the background
- Attractive perfume bottles, pretty soaps or a bowl of fragrant dried petals in the bathroom
- Brew a fresh pot of coffee or have some freshly baked goods with apple or cinnamon to add a pleasant aroma that permeates throughout the house
- Put cushions and soft toys on the children's beds
The final touches
- Put all valuables and personal items away
- Be prepared at all reasonable times for potential buyers to view your home
- If possible it is best to leave during a showing but if you are there and a prospective buyer asks questions about the home or neighborhood answer directly and honestly. However refer any questions about the transaction; price, inclusions, dates, etc. to your realtor.