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Getting Your House Ready to Sell
Introduction - Emotion vs. Reason
When conversing with
real estate agents, you will often find that when they talk to you about
buying real estate, they will refer to your purchase as a "home." Yet if
you are selling property, they will often refer to it as a "house."
There is a reason for this. Buying real estate is often 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 this decision, 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 potential home. When a potential homebuyer sees your
family photos hanging on the wall, it puts your own brand on the home
and momentarily shatters their illusions about owning the house.
Therefore, put away family photos, sports trophies, collectible items,
knick-knacks, and souvenirs. Put them in a box. Rent a storage area for
a few months and put the box in the storage unit.
Do not just put
the box in the attic, basement, garage or a closet. Part of 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
This is the hardest
thing for most people to do because they are emotionally attached to
everything in the house. After years of living in the same home, clutter
collects in such a way that may not be evident to the homeowner.
However, it does affect the way buyers see the home, even if you do not
realize it. Clutter collects on shelves, counter tops, drawers, closets,
garages, attics, and basements.
Take a step back and
pretend you are a buyer. Let a friend help point out areas of clutter,
as long as you can accept their views without getting defensive. Let
your agent help you, too.
Kitchen Clutter
The kitchen is a
good place to start removing clutter, because it is an easy place to
start. First, get everything off the counters. Everything. Even the
toaster. Put the toaster in a cabinet and take it out when you use it.
Find a place where you can store everything in cabinets and drawers. Of
course, you may notice that you do not have cabinet space to put
everything. Clean them out. The dishes, pots and pans that rarely get
used? Put them in a box and put that box in storage, too.
You see, homebuyers
will open all your cabinets and drawers, especially in the kitchen. They
want to be sure there is enough room for their "stuff." If your kitchen
cabinets, pantries, and drawers look jammed full, it sends a negative
message to the buyer and does not promote an image of plentiful storage
space. The best way to do that is to have as much "empty space" as
possible.
For that reason, if
you have a "junk drawer," get rid of the junk. If you have a rarely used
crock pot, put it in storage. Do this with every cabinet and drawer.
Create open space.
If you have a large
amount of foodstuffs crammed into the shelves or pantry, begin using
them – especially canned goods. Canned goods are 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.
Beneath the sink is
very critical, too. Make sure the area beneath the sink is as empty as
possible, removing all extra cleaning supplies. You should scrub the
area down as well, and determine if there are any tell-tale signs of
water leaks that may cause a homebuyer to hesitate in buying your home.
Closet Clutter
Closets are great
for accumulating clutter, though you may not think of it as clutter. We
are talking about extra clothes and shoes – things you rarely wear but
cannot bear to be without. Do without these items for a couple of months
by putting them in a box, because these items can make your closets look
"crammed full." Sometimes there are shoeboxes full of "stuff" or other
accumulated personal items, too.
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Furniture Clutter
Many people have too
much furniture in certain rooms – not too much for your own personal
living needs – but too much to give the illusion of space that a
homebuyer would like to see. You may want to tour some builders’ models
to see how they place furniture in the model 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. These
areas should be as empty as possible so that buyers can imagine what
they would do with the space. Remove anything that is not essential
and have a garage
sale.
Plumbing and Fixtures
All your sink
fixtures should look shiny and new. If this cannot be accomplished by
cleaning, buy new ones where needed. If you don’t buy something fancy,
this can be accomplished inexpensively and they are fairly easy to
install. Make sure all the hot and cold water knobs are easy to turn and
that the faucets do not leak. If they do, replace the washers. It is not
difficult at all.
Check to make sure
you have good water pressure and that there are no stains on any of the
porcelain. If you have a difficult stain to remove, one trick 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
Check all the
ceilings for water stains. Sometimes old leaks leave stains, even after
you have repaired the leak. Of course, if you do have a leak, you will
have to get it repaired, whether it is a plumbing problem or the roof
leaks.
You should do the
same for walls, looking for not only stains, but also areas where dirt
has accumulated and you just may not have noticed. Plus, you may have an
outdated color scheme.
Painting can be your
best investment when selling your home. It is not a very expensive
operation and often you can do it yourself. Do not choose colors based
on your own preferences, but based on what would appeal to the widest
possible number of buyers. You should almost always choose an off-white
color because white helps your rooms appear bright and spacious.
Carpet and Flooring
Unless your carpet
appears old and worn, or it is definitely an outdated style or color,
you probably should do nothing more than hire a good carpet cleaner. If
you do choose to replace it, do so with something inexpensive in a
fairly neutral color.
Repair or replace
broken floor tiles, but do not spend a lot of money on anything.
Remember, you are not fixing up the place for yourself. You want to
move. Your goal is simply to have as few negative impressions upon those
who may want to purchase your property.
Windows and Doors
Check all of your
windows to make sure they open and close easily. If not, a spray of WD40
often helps. Make sure there are no cracked or broken windowpanes. If
there are, replace them before you begin showing your home.
Do the same
things with the doors – make sure they open and close properly, without
creaking. If they do, a shot of WD40 on the hinges usually makes the
creak go away. Be sure the doorknobs turn easily, and that they are
cleaned and polished to look sharp. As buyers go from room to room,
someone opens each door and you want to do everything necessary to
create a positive impression
Odor Control
For those who
smoke, you might want to minimize smoking indoors while trying to sell
your home. You could also
purchase an ozone spray
that helps to remove odors without creating a masking odor.
Pets of all kinds
create odors that you may have become used to, but are immediately
noticeable to those with more finely tuned olfactory senses. For those
with cats, be sure to empty kitty litter boxes daily. There are also
products that you can sprinkle in a layer below the kitty litter that
helps to control odor. For those with dogs, keep the dog outdoors as
much as possible. You might also try sprinkling carpet freshener on the
carpet on a periodic basis.
Costs of Repairs
Do not do anything
expensive, such as remodeling. If possible, use savings to pay for any
repairs and improvements – do not go charging up credit cards or
obtaining new loans. Remember that part of selling a house is also
preparing to buy your next home. You do not want to do anything that
will affect your credit scores or hurt your ability to qualify for your
next mortgage. |
