Making a good first
impression can mean the difference between receiving serious offers for your
home or being subjected to months of potentially interested buyers dropping by
without ever buying.
How can you ensure that your
home will make the best impression possible? Here are six tips for savvy home
sellers:
1. Focus on curb appeal.
The outside of your house can be the source of a very good first
impression. Keep the grass well-watered and mowed. Have your trees trimmed.
Cut back overgrowth. Plant some blooming flowers. Keep toys, bicycles,
gardening equipment and the like out of sight. Have at least the front of your
house and the trim painted, if necessary. Sweep the porch and the front
walkway. After dark, turn on your front porch light and any other exterior
lighting, create a warm, inviting look.
2. Clear out the clutter.
Real estate agents say buyers won't purchase a home they can't see. Or
more importantly, see themselves in it! If your home has too much furniture,
overflowing closets, crowded kitchen and bathroom countertops or lots of
family photos or collectibles on display, potential buyers won't be able to
really see your home. Get rid of anything you don't need or use. Fill up
your garage or rent some off-site storage space!
3. Use your nose.
Many people are oblivious to scents, but others are extremely sensitive to
offensive odors. To eliminate bad smells, bathe your pets, freshen the cat
litter box frequently, shampoo your carpets, dry clean your drapes, and empty
trash cans, recycling bins and ash trays. Place open boxes of baking soda in
smell-prone areas, and refrain from cooking fish or strong-smelling foods.
Introduce pleasing smells by placing flowers or potpourri in your home and
using air fresheners. Baking a fresh or frozen pie or some other fragrant
treat is another common tactic.
4. Make all necessary
repairs. Buyers expect everything in their new home to operate safely and
properly. Picky buyers definitely will notice-and likely magnify -- minor
maintenance problems you've ignored for months or even years. Leaky faucets,
burned-out light bulbs, painted-shut or broken windows, inoperable appliances
and the like should be fixed before you put your home on the market. These
repairs may seem small, but left undone they can lead buyers to question
whether you've taken good care of your home.
5. Introduce lifestyle
accessories and make your home as comfortable and attractive as possible.
Set the dining room table with your best dishes. Put out your only-for-company
towels. Make up the spare bed. Hang some fresh curtains. Put some logs in the
fireplace. Dress your home as if it were being photographed for a magazine.
Use your imagination.
6. Get a buyer's-eye
view. Walk up to your home and pretend you've never seen it before. What
do you notice? How do you feel about what you see? Does the home seem
inviting? Well-maintained? Would you want to buy this home? Get friends and
family members to do the same, just like proof reading -- they can see things
you don't.
An internal study by StagedHomes. com in 2004-2005 shows that staged
homes sold in an average of 6.8 days, compared with an average of 32 to 42
days on the market for comparable unstaged homes. The staged homes sold two to
three times faster and also sold for an average of $26,000 more than a
comparable home, the survey reports.
The study says that the staged homes sold for a minimum of 3 percent more
than comparable unstaged homes.
Staging your home for sale requires an investment of time and money by the
seller, although the amount of each varies widely according to the condition
of the home.
We can provide you with a home stager to work with you either by the
project or by the hour. While fees vary considerably, local home stagers
charge about $75 to $150 per hour. While some home staging projects can take
just a few hours, others may take several days.
