Getting Your Home Ready to Sell

Whenconversing with real estate agents, you will often find that when theytalk to you about buying real estate, they will refer to your purchaseas a "home." Yet if you are selling property, they will often refer toit as a "house." There is a reason for this. Buying real estate isoften an emotional decision, but when selling real estate you need to remove emotion from the equation.

You need to think of your house as a marketable commodity. Property. Real estate. Your goal is to get others to see it as their potential home, not yours. If you do not consciously make thisdecision, you can inadvertently create a situation where it takes longer to sell your property. The first step in getting your home ready to sell is to "de-personalize" it.

De-personalize the House

The reason you want to "de-personalize" your home is because you want buyers to view it as their potentialhome. When a potential homebuyer sees your family photos hanging on thewall, it puts your own brand on the home and momentarily shatters theirillusions about owning the house. Therefore, put away family photos,sports trophies, collectible items, knick-knacks, and souvenirs. Putthem in a box. Rent a storage area for a few months and put the box in the storage unit.

Donot just put the box in the attic, basement, garage or a closet. Partof preparing a house for sale is to remove "clutter," and that is the next step in preparing your house for sale.

Removing Clutter, Though You May Not Think of it as Clutter

Thisis the hardest thing for most people to do because they are emotionallyattached to everything in the house. After years of living in the samehome, clutter collects in such a way that may not be evident to thehomeowner. However, it does affect the way buyers see the home, even ifyou do not realize it. Clutter collects on shelves, counter tops, drawers, closets, garages, attics, and basements.

Takea step back and pretend you are a buyer. Let a friend help point outareas of clutter, as long as you can accept their views without getting defensive. Let your agent help you, too.

Kitchen Clutter

Thekitchen is a good place to start removing clutter, because it is aneasy place to start. First, get everything off the counters.Everything. Even the toaster. Put the toaster in a cabinet and take itout when you use it. Find a place where you can store everything incabinets and drawers. Of course, you may notice that you do not havecabinet space to put everything. Clean them out. The dishes, pots andpans that rarely get used? Put them in a box and put that box in storage, too.

Yousee, homebuyers will open all your cabinets and drawers, especially inthe kitchen. They want to be sure there is enough room for their"stuff." If your kitchen cabinets, pantries, and drawers look jammedfull, it sends a negative message to the buyer and does not promote animage of plentiful storage space. The best way to do that is to have as much "empty space" as possible.

Forthat reason, if you have a "junk drawer," get rid of the junk. If youhave a rarely used crock pot, put it in storage. Do this with every cabinet and drawer. Create open space.

Ifyou have a large amount of foodstuffs crammed into the shelves orpantry, begin using them – especially canned goods. Canned goodsare heavy and you don’t want to be lugging them to a new house,anyway – or paying a mover to do so. Let what you have on the shelves determine your menus and use up as much as you can.

Beneaththe sink is very critical, too. Make sure the area beneath the sink isas empty as possible, removing all extra cleaning supplies. You shouldscrub the area down as well, and determine if there are any tell-talesigns of water leaks that may cause a homebuyer to hesitate in buying your home.

Closet Clutter

Closetsare great for accumulating clutter, though you may not think of it asclutter. We are talking about extra clothes and shoes – thingsyou rarely wear but cannot bear to be without. Do without these itemsfor a couple of months by putting them in a box, because these itemscan make your closets look "crammed full." Sometimes there are shoeboxes full of "stuff" or other accumulated personal items, too.

Furniture Clutter

Manypeople have too much furniture in certain rooms – not too muchfor your own personal living needs – but too much to give theillusion of space that a homebuyer would like to see. You may want totour some builders’ models to see how they place furniture in themodel homes. Observe how they place furniture in the models so you get some ideas on what to remove and what to leave in your house.

Storage Area Clutter

Basements,garages, attics, and sheds accumulate not only clutter, but junk. Theseareas should be as empty as possible so that buyers can imagine whatthey would do with the space. Remove anything that is not essential and take it to the storage area. Or have a garage sale.

Fixing Up the House Interior

Plumbing and Fixtures

Allyour sink fixtures should look shiny and new. If this cannot beaccomplished by cleaning, buy new ones where needed. If you don’tbuy something fancy, this can be accomplished inexpensively and theyare fairly easy to install. Make sure all the hot and cold water knobsare easy to turn and that the faucets do not leak. If they do, replace the washers. It is not difficult at all.

Checkto make sure you have good water pressure and that there are no stainson any of the porcelain. If you have a difficult stain to remove, onetrick is to hire a cleaning crew to go through and clean your home on a one-time basis. They seem to be wonderful at making stains go away.

Ceilings, Walls and Painting

Checkall the ceilings for water stains. Sometimes old leaks leave stains,even after you have repaired the leak. Of course, if you do have aleak, you will have to get it repaired, whether it is a plumbing problem or the roof leaks.

Youshould do the same for walls, looking for not only stains, but alsoareas where dirt has accumulated and you just may not have noticed. Plus, you may have an outdated color scheme.

Paintingcan be your best investment when selling your home. It is not a veryexpensive operation and often you can do it yourself. Do not choosecolors based on your own preferences, but based on what would appeal tothe widest possible number of buyers. You should almost always choosean off-white color because white helps your rooms appear bright and spacious.

Carpet and Flooring

Unlessyour carpet appears old and worn, or it is definitely an outdated styleor color, you probably should do nothing more than hire a good carpetcleaner. If you do choose to replace it, do so with something inexpensive in a fairly neutral color.

Repairor replace broken floor tiles, but do not spend a lot of money onanything. Remember, you are not fixing up the place for yourself. Youwant to move. Your goal is simply to have as few negative impressions upon those who may want to purchase your property.

Windows and Doors

Checkall of your windows to make sure they open and close easily. If not, aspray of WD40 often helps. Make sure there are no cracked or brokenwindowpanes. If there are, replace them before you begin showing your home.

Dothe same things with the doors – make sure they open and closeproperly, without creaking. If they do, a shot of WD40 on the hingesusually makes the creak go away. Be sure the doorknobs turn easily, andthat they are cleaned and polished to look sharp. As buyers go fromroom to room, someone opens each door and you want to do everything necessary to create a positive impression.

Odor Control

Forthose who smoke, you might want to minimize smoking indoors whiletrying to sell your home. You could also purchase an ozone spray that helps to remove odors without creating a masking odor.

Petsof all kinds create odors that you may have become used to, but areimmediately noticeable to those with more finely tuned olfactorysenses. For those with cats, be sure to empty kitty litter boxes daily.There are also products that you can sprinkle in a layer below thekitty litter that helps to control odor. For those with dogs, keep thedog outdoors as much as possible. You might also try sprinkling carpet freshener on the carpet on a periodic basis.

Costs of Repairs

Donot do anything expensive, such as remodeling. If possible, use savingsto pay for any repairs and improvements – do not go charging upcredit cards or obtaining new loans. Remember that part of selling ahouse is also preparing to buy your next home. You do not want to doanything that will affect your credit scores or hurt your ability to qualify for your next mortgage.

Fixing Up the House Exterior

Mostreal estate advice tells you to work on the outside of the house first,but unless there is a major project involved, we believe it is best todo it last. There are two main reasons for this. First, the first stepsin preparing the interior of the house are easier. They also helpdevelop the proper mind set required for selling - beginning to thinkof your "home" as a marketable commodity. Second, the exterior is themost important. A homebuyer’s first impression is based on his or her view of the house from the real estate agent’s car.

So take a walk across the street and take a good look at your house. Look at nearby houses, too, and see how yours compares.

Landscaping

Isyour landscaping at least average for the neighborhood? If it is not,buy a few bushes and plant them. Do not put in trees. Mature trees areexpensive, and you will not get back your investment. Also, immature trees do not really add much to the appearance value of the home.

Ifyou have an area for flowers, buy mature colorful flowers and plantthem. They add a splash of vibrancy and color, creating a favorablefirst impression. Do not buy bulbs or seeds and plant them. They willnot mature fast enough to create the desired effect and you certainly don’t want a patch of brown earth for homebuyers to view.

Yourlawn should be evenly cut, freshly edged, well watered, and free ofbrown spots. If there are problems with your lawn, you should probablytake care of them before working on the inside of your home. This isbecause certain areas may need re-sodding, and you want to give it achance to grow so that re-sod areas are not immediately apparent. Plus, you might want to give fertilizer enough time to be effective.

Always rake up loose leaves and grass cuttings.

House Exterior

Thebig decision is whether to paint or not to paint. When you look at yourhouse from across the street, does it look tired and faded? If so, apaint job may be in order. It is often a very good investment andreally spruces up the appearance of a house, adding dollars to offers from potential homebuyers.

Whenchoosing a color, it should not be something garish and unusual, but acolor that fits well in your neighborhood. Of course, the color alsodepends on the style of your house, too. For some reason, differentshades of yellow seem to elicit the best response in homebuyers, whether it is in the trim or the basic color of the house.

Asfor the roof, if you know your house has an old leaky roof, replace it.If you do not replace a leaky roof, you are going to have to discloseit and the buyer will want a new roof, anyway. Otherwise, wait and see what the home inspector says. Why spend money unnecessarily?

The Back Yard

Theback yard should be tidy. If you have a pool or spa, keep it freshlymaintained and constantly cleaned. For those that have dogs, be sure toconstantly keep the area clear of "debris." If you have swing sets oranything elaborate for your kids, it probably makes more sense toremove them than to leave them in place. They take up room, and youwant your back yard to appear as spacious as possible, especially in newer homes where the yards are not as large.

The Front Door & Entryway

Thefront door should be especially sharp, since it is the entryway intothe house. Polish the door fixture so it gleams. If the door needs refinishing or repainting, make sure to get that done.

Ifyou have a cute little plaque or shingle with your family name on it,remove it. Even if it is just on the mailbox. You can always put it upagain once you move. Get a new plush door mat, too. This is something else you can take with you once you move.

Makesure the lock works easily and the key fits properly. When a homebuyercomes to visit your home, the agent uses the key from the lock box tounlock the door. If there is trouble working the lock while everyoneelse stands around twiddling their thumbs, this sends a negative first impression to prospective homebuyers.

Lighting, Fragrances, Pet Control and More

Lighting

When you know someone is coming by to tour your home, turn on all theindoor and outdoor lights – even during the day. At night, a lithouse gives a "homey" impression when viewed from the street. Duringthe daytime, turning on the lights prevents harsh shadows from sunlightand it brightens up any dim areas. Your house looks more homey and cheerful with the lights on.

Fragrances

Donot use scented sprays to prepare for visitors. It is too obvious andmany people find the smells of those sprays offensive, not to mentionthat some may be allergic. If you want to have a pleasant aroma in yourhouse, have a potpourri pot or something natural. Or turn on a stoveburner for a moment and put a drop of vanilla extract on it. It will smell like you have been cooking.

Pet Control

Ifyou have pets, make sure your listing agent puts a notice with yourlisting in the multiple listing service. The last thing you want is tohave your pet running out the front door and getting lost. If you knowsomeone is coming, it would be best to try to take the pets with youwhile the homebuyers tour your home. If you cannot do that, It is bestto keep dogs in a penned area in the back yard. Try to keep indoor catsin a specific room when you expect visitors, and put a sign on thedoor. Most of the time, an indoor cat will hide when buyers come to view your property, but they may panic and try to escape.

The Kitchen Trash

Especiallyif your kitchen trash can does not have a lid, make sure you empty itevery time someone comes to look at your home – even if yourtrash can is kept under the kitchen sink. Remember that you want tosend a positive image about every aspect of your home. Kitchen trashdoes not send a positive message. You may go through more plastic bags than usual, but it will be worth it.

Keeping the House Tidy and Neat

Noteveryone makes his or her bed every day, but when selling a home it isrecommended that you develop the habit. Pick up papers, do not leaveempty glasses in the family room, keep everything freshly dusted andvacuumed. Try your best to have it look like a model home – a home with furniture but nobody really lives there.