Over 50 Tips for Selling Your Home

Over 50 Tips for Selling Your Home

You may not be able to finish the basement or remodel the kitchen, but you can improve the market value of your house.

It is important to attract as many qualified buyers as possible. In preparing your home for sale, it is important to look at your home through a “buyer’s eyes.” People buy what they see. So look at your home as if you were in a buyer’s shoes. Make your home appealing and uncluttered as the home you would like to buy.

Exterior

• Mow the lawn, trim trees and shrubs away from house. You can’t sell a house if you can’t see it. Rake leaves, remove dead plants, flowers or shrubs.
• Put away tools, garbage cans, hoses, toys and building materials neatly in the garage.
• Check for broken roof shingles, straight lines on gutters, shutters, windows and siding.
• Clean windows and front door. Paint if needed.
• Seal or resurface driveway.
• Clear patios or decks of planters, flower pots, charcoal, barbecues.
• In the front yard, dress up around shrubs and lamp post with large quartz stones, railroad ties, and pine bark mulch, etc.

Foyer

• Use bright light bulb in foyer light fixture.
• Turn on all lights in home in the evening to welcome potential buyers.
• Fill the house with the pleasant aroma of cinnamon, or other fresh scent.
• Spotlessly clean woodwork, carpeting and windows throughout house.
• Clear window ledges of all objects to give a nice glimpse inside and out.
• Repaint walls if necessary, in neutral color such as antique white.

Living Room

• Discard worn furniture and move extra to storage area. Too much furniture makes rooms look small.
• Visit a model home to get decorating ideas.
• Clear away all magazines, books, and unnecessary objects from furniture throughout the house.
• Take down pictures that hide walls. Patch nail holes and paint.
• Add lamps and lighting if dark.
• Open curtains.
• Set out fresh flowers.

Kitchen

• Professionally clean oven and stove.
• Replace broken appliances, and repair squeaks, drips, or binds in cabinet drawers.
• Clean all appliances inside and out until they are spotless. Wax and polish floors.
• Discard old food and leftovers from refrigerator.
• Clean refrigerator front of messages, pictures and magnets.
• Clear all magazines, small appliances, and cookware from counter tops.
• If it hasn’t been used for months . . . put it away!

Family Room

• Clean fireplace.
• Replace carpet if it’s a loud color. (I know it costs money, but you’ll get it back at settlement).
• Remove all magazines, books, toys and worn furnishings that might influence a buyer’s feeling about the room.
• Create an easy-going relaxed atmosphere in your family room. This is where most families spend their time, so make it look good.

Bathrooms

• Remove any unnecessary items from counter tops, tubs, and commode. Put as much away as possible, and make each bathroom look like a “guest bathroom.”
• Sink, commode, bathtub, tile and shower curtain should look immaculate, no soap film or hair.
• Fix leaky faucets, rust stains and faulty plumbing that may squeak or bind.
• Caulk and grout tile. Bleach discolored grout.
• Replace or remove any wall paper that isn’t “conservative.”
• Coordinate towels to one or two colors only.
• Place softer bulbs in bathroom fixtures and scented flower arrangement on vanity top.

Master Bedroom

• This is the second most important-to-be-appealing room in a home (after the kitchen, before the family room and garage).
• Define areas, sleeping, dressing and sitting by furniture arrangement. Try to have bedroom look as simply furnished as possible.
• Be sure all clothes are hanging up, not laying out in the room.
• Make closets more appealing by storing off-season clothes elsewhere. Go ahead and pack them up since you’re moving away.

Children's Bedrooms

• Here’s a challenge: ask children and teenagers to help by thoroughly cleaning up their rooms, removing all posters, questionable photographs. Low lighting and clutter make bedrooms look smaller or darker than they are.
• Patch and paint walls if necessary.
• Open curtains.

Garage

• The perfect garage contains only cars. But if this is not possible, clean up, fix up, sell or toss out unneeded items. (This may be your only opportunity).
• Clean and seal cement floor.
• Neatly stack tools and clean up work bench and tidy up storage shelf areas.

Basement

• A finished basement is great! Just follow same guidelines given for preparing the family room.
• If unfinished, make sure concrete floor is well swept and clean.
• Seal or paint concrete floors (battleship grey).
• Clean water heater, change filters, and put strong light bulbs in fixtures.

Question and Answer

Q. Should We Remodel or Decorate?

A. While redecorating can make a home look more attractive, it is difficult to anticipate what a new buyer may be looking for in your home. It’s best to simply prepare your home with a clean, uncluttered appearance.

If anything, you may want to invest in some fresh paint. Paint can go a long way in enhancing the appeal of your home.

If your home is in need of paint or carpeting, it’s better to invest the money and buy it ahead of time. Rather than hope a buyer has a vivid imagination of what your home will look like without spots on the carpet and chipped paint on the walls, make it look its best when they see it. You only have one chance to make a good first impression!

Hopefully you found this information useful, if you would like more advice from The Limejuicer (aka Lawrence Evans) or to learn about the Limejuicer Rating system please feel free to contact me directly. Team Limejuicer is waiting to serve your real estate needs and always welcomes referrals! Thank you for your time.


Lawrence Evans
Re/Max Town Center
Real Estate Consultant
(301) 922-2156