Tips for Sellers
People buy houses that they feel comfortable in. If your house is cluttered and not clean it will be harder to sell.
Clean
Think clean, cleaner than clean. Dirty houses sell for less and take longer to market. Many buyers will walk out of a dirty house without giving it a second thought. Professional steam cleaning the carpets and draperies is usually well worth the expense.
The kitchen and master bath are extremely important. Polish the faucets, wipe down the sinks, bleach the stained grout. A nasty kitchen or bathroom is a deal killer.
Kitchen
Clean the top of the refrigerator, scour the stove, remove personal items from the side of the refrigerator.
Bathroom
Put away all but the most-needed cosmetics, brushes, perfumes, etc. Keep
necessary items on the counter in a small basket or on a tray. Consider bleaching
the stained grout and regrouting tiles that are moldy or cracked. "Also,
put away small garbage cans or hide them behind the toilet,"
"And keep the toilet lid down."
Repaint or touch up paint
Painting all the walls off-white can make your home appear more spacious. Turning on all the lights and having clean windows also make your home seem cleaner and more spacious.
Edit
The object is to clear away all unnecessary objects, especially those on coffee tables, dressers, kitchen counters, and night stands
Reduce the amount of clutter on the walls. Family photos on the living room walls, decorative items on the bathroom walls, and certificates on the home office walls also can turn off potential buyers
Is your child's bedroom filled with posters? Potential buyers may see only holes to be filled and walls to be painted. Ask your child to pick one or two favorite posters to be rehung after you fill the holes and repaint the bedroom
So get an early start on packing and box up those family treasures
Start packing now. "When you get ready to move, you'll need to pack anyway, so just start packing early," suggests Schwarz. Pack up extra books, out-of-season clothing, and sporting equipment and stack the boxes in the garage or in a rented storage space.
bathrooms and kitchens. Put away all but the most-needed cosmetics, brushes, perfumes, etc. Keep necessary items on the counter in a small group, perhaps in a basket or on a tray. Consider regrouting tiles that have moldy or cracked grout. "Also, put away small garbage cans or hide them behind the toilet," Schwarz advises. "And keep the toilet lid down
Odors
pet, cigarette, and cooking odors can turn off potential buyers before they
get past your living room. A smell that you may not even notice may be
quite offensive to buyers who do not smoke, own pets, or have your appreciation
of exotic foods.
Exterior
Curb appeal -- is what gets buyers to stop and check out your home in the
first place. Walk across the street and take a look at your house.
Does the front door need painting? Is the front porch crowded with dead potted
plants? Is there a pile of old wood stacked against the side of the house? Be
brutally honest. "If the front door and porch look old and ratty, buyers
assume the inside looks bad, too," says Woodruff. "Also, make sure the
doorbell works," she adds. "If it's broken, buyers will assume you've
let everything else go, too."
Plant overgrowth keeps potential buyers from really seeing the outside of your
home. "You can't sell it if you can't see it,'" Schwarz says.
Overgrown shrubbery also can make the rooms inside look dark. Plus, too much
plant growth can make the house appear smaller. So trim the trees, buzz the
hedges, and let the sun shine in.
Next, decide if you need to hire a lawn service. If you decide to do it
yourself, weed and bark all planting areas and groom and fertilize the lawn.
Then make a commitment to weekly lawn mowing and maintenance. Now's the time to
buy new bedding plants to add color, too.
Garage
Clean the garage. While your garage can be a great storage place, prospective buyers need to be able to see that it's a two car garage, Clean any oil spots on the garage floor and driveway.
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