Archive for the ‘House Selling Tips’ Category
Steps to sell your house: Part One – Preparation
| 
Author: Preparing the house for sale
Often thought of as one of the most fundamental and yet most emotionally challenging tasks to undertake is to make your home “neutral”. It has to stop being your home so that prospective buyers can more easily see it as theirs. This means removing family photos, sports trophies, collectibles, souvenirs ,and other assorted knick-knacks. To further increase the effect of redecorating things to a simpler style, as much as you may love 1950’s décor, not everyone does and you want to be able to sell the house to “everyone”, so rent a storage space and put the items you want away for safe keeping. If you are anything like me, then your home will be full of “clutter” which needs to be gotten rid of. Clutter collects everywhere and can often hide under the guise of “useful stuff” or “things that might become useful at some undisclosed point in time”.
It could be helpful to have someone else help you decide what is and what isn’t clutter as it can be a difficult judgment to make.
The kitchen is one of the most, if not the most important room in the house. So it is the best place to begin your de-cluttering mission. Clear the work surfaces of everything, even the toaster. Put it away in a cupboard and bring it out only when you need it. If your kitchen cabinets and drawers are packed full of unused pots, pans and cutlery clear them out and put them into storage. The emptier everything is, the more easily the prospective homebuyer will be able to imagine their stuff occupying the kitchen spaces. The same goes with the area under the sink, make sure all unnecessary cleaning products are removed.
The rest of the house also needs a thorough de-clutter. Remove items of furniture that take up too much space, empty out closets of extra clothes and shoes. Remember: the idea is to give an impression of space even where not much really exists.
Another simple yet effective step is to make sure all the light switches and faucets are working, aren’t loose, or dirty. Making some little repairs can make a big difference in the buyer’s perspective of the home’s quality. Most potential buyers aren’t sure what they are supposed to be looking for. Switches, faucets and toilet flushers are all fair game to be toyed with, so make sure they stand up to inspection!
Posted in 