Russell Hall

© Russell C. Hall 2016. All Rights Reserved. No part may be used without express written permission. How To Prepare Your Home For Sale Preparing your home for sale isn’t something that you should take lightly, because the work that you put in here can make all the difference between a quick sale or one that takes seemingly forever! Attractively presented homes always attract the most interest and they always influence higher prices over other similar properties that may be shoddily presented or not as well prepared. Therefore it makes very good sense to go to the effort of preparing your home in the best way possible as far as time and budget will allow, so that you’ll improve your chances of selling quicker and more profitably as well. There are several things that you can do in order to ensure a better price for your property. This includes perhaps spending a few hundred dollars to tidy up the gardens and even doing some simple landscaping such as planting of shrubs, flowers and trees, new turf, and renewing garden pathway edges. Freshening up paintwork is also a big plus. This doesn’t need to involve a full house repaint but it could involve repainting the front door, the window sills and any dull trim areas externally. On the interior it could mean touching up chipped door frames, skirting boards, and perhaps repainting a bathroom or kitchen ceiling. Basically it simply requires refreshing or repairing anything that might obviously look damaged or dull, and this includes repairing or replacing any damaged wallpaper, because if left in an unrepaired state, it will give a clearer indication that maintenance work is required, and also give an inferior presentation. Getting your carpets professionally cleaned is always a really good idea because it will create a good impression and even add a fresh clean atmosphere to the entire house. Things such as bad smells and odors from pets, unclean areas, garbage and mold and mildew can have a very bad effect on selling, and so any work you do in that regard will always pay big dividends at the end of the day. Attention to window coverings, such as getting drapes and blinds cleaned, can make a distinct difference. Simple steps such as ensuring that all windows are squeaky clean will make such a difference that even you yourself will wonder why you didn’t attend to it sooner! Making sure that all furniture and furnishings are clean and dust free, and that clutter is removed from rooms (especially the kid’s toys) will allow prospective buyers to visualize how the living areas could be adapted to their own needs. All of these steps will help you to emotionally engage prospective buyers instead of placing obstacles in the way of their imagination. If you have a swimming pool or spa area, then making sure this is serviced and kept clean and tidy is imperative. Whatever time you spend making you will pool area more inviting will be well worthwhile. This could include throwing out or renewing old pool furniture, cleaning tiles and pathways, as well as decorating surrounding walls and making sure that all fences and gates are in good working order. © Russell C. Hall 2016. All Rights Reserved. No part may be used without express written permission. © Russell C. Hall 2016. All Rights Reserved. No part may be used without express written permission. At our agency, our sales consultants can guide you through this process, and we can also introduce you to various service providers and home preparation specialists to ensure that your property will be presented in the best possible manner within your means and budget. Once your home has been listed for sale, then the next thing that will happen will be that the agent will arrange to bring people around to have a look. Of course your agent will always let you know when a home inspection has to be made, whether this is by an open house appointment or by individual arrangement, so that you’ll always know in advance when an inspection is going to happen. It’s highly important when showing the property, that it is presented in a clean, tidy and uncluttered manner. Nobody gets a second chance of making a good first impression, and so you need to make sure that you put your best foot forward in showing the property to prospective buyers. In “open house” situations this process is made a lot easier because you know in advance that on a specific day or days of the week, that your house will be presented to prospective buyers and therefore you will have advanced time to make sure everything is in a neat and tidy order. However, if your agent will be showing the property on a casual basis as inquiries come in, then you will need to be able to whip it into shape and tidy things up in a hurry before the agent arrives with the prospective buyer. That’s fine if you are at home but if you’ve got to go out on a weekend or a working day and you’ve given the agent keyed access to your front door to enter as needed, then you’ll need to make sure that the house is clean and tidy every time before you go out, because there’s nothing worse than trying to make a good impression showing a property where beds are not made, dishes are in the sink, and toys and books and magazines are all over the place. It may seem like a lot of work and it can be annoying but if you want to make a sale then you simply need to do these things, otherwise that one perfect buyer that you’ve been waiting on for weeks or for months could end up passing you by and going with another home that looked just as pretty as a picture. © Russell C. Hall 2016. All Rights Reserved. No part may be used without express written permission.