Tips for Increasing Your Home’s Appeal

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If you’re considering listing your home, remember, this is your chance to make the best first impression possible and charm buyers by creating a wonderful atmosphere as they compare your home to others available on the market. Here are some simple and significant ways to maximize your home’s appeal.

House Exterior 2Create Curb Appeal

  • Keep grass cut, trim trees and remove all toys and clutter from yard.
  • Weed and add mulch to flower beds along with a few seasonal flowers.
  • Power wash your home’s exterior; clean windows inside and out.
  • Ensure all gutters and downspouts are firmly attached and functioning.
  • Buy a new welcome mat and keep front porch swept.
  • Place potted flowers near the front door.
  • Make sure the door bell works.
  • Tighten and clean all door handles.

Welcome Buyers with a House they Can Picture as Their New Home

  • Ensure your home remains free of all pet, smoke and cooking smells.
  • Remove furniture that interrupts “the flow” or makes the room appear smaller.
  • Consider renting a storage unit to move items off-site.
  • Get the kitchen sparkling clean including stove, oven and fridge.
  • Remove excessive counter clutter.
  • Clean and organize cabinets, closets, drawers and bookshelves.
  • Clean all light fixtures, ceiling fans, mini blinds and window sills.
  • Remove excessive wall hangings and knick-knacks.
  • Shampoo carpets.
  • Repair all plumbing leaks, including faucets and drain traps.
  • Make minor repairs (torn screens, sticking doors, cracked caulking).
  • Fix or replace tub & shower grout and replace any broken tiles.

Doing that Little Bit Extra

  • Buy new towels for bathrooms and replace shower curtain
  • Buy new bedding for bedrooms and replace old lamps or lampshades.
  • Paint the front door; clean or paint walls and ceilings.
  • Replace worn cabinet doors, cabinet pulls and door knobs.
  • Replace worn countertops.

Formal Dining 04Tips for Showing Your Home at It’s Best

  • DO NOT fry anything while your home is for sale; cooking smells linger for days.
  • Vacate the property while it is being shown.
  • Open all drapes and shutters in the daytime; turn on all the lights.
  • Keep pets secured outdoors.
  • Play quiet background music.
  • Clean out fireplace ashes.
  • Infuse home with a comforting scent, such as apple spice or vanilla.
  • Set the dining room table for a fancy dinner party.

10 Steps to Selling Your Home

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Selling your home can be a daunting process. Is it a good time to sell? What do you need to do to prepare to sell your house? How should you price your home? A licensed Realtor© can help you with every step of the process.

We want to share the specific steps that we lead you through to sell your home.

Family in front of house1. Define your goals, wants, needs and expectations. A good place to begin the home selling process is by exploring your short and long term goals in life and how selling your home fits in. We will walk through a process we use to thoroughly understand our client’s goals, wants and needs to ensure that your expectations are met.

2. Determine the best price for what’s going on in the market right now. We assess the current state of the market and what comparable homes are actually selling for by reviewing a Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) on your home. That way, we can objectively determine its fair market value and price it right.

3. Prepare your property so that it is in top-selling condition. Most of us don’t keep our homes in top-selling condition. We will work with you to help you see things from a buyer’s point of view. We will consult with you on what to repair, replace or remove so that your home makes a GREAT first impression.

4. Implement time-proven, research-based marketing strategies. Your home will be marketed with a marketing plan that has the highest potential for bringing not only the most buyers, but also the most qualified buyers to your doorstep.

5. Show your property. Always keep your home in top-selling condition. When you leave for work, make sure that your home remains in top-selling condition. You know what they say about first impressions!

6. Receive an offer. When a buyer decides to buy your home, an offer will be presented. We will advise you on the offer and whether the buyer is qualified to purchase your home.

7. Negotiate to sell. Most offers require some level of negotiation. We will work together to decide your parameter and we will negotiate on your behalf.

8. Have your home appraised and inspected. Once you have accepted an offer, we will work with the buyer’s agent to coordinate an appraisal, inspections and a survey (if required). If the buyer requires that certain repairs be made on your home, we will continue to negotiate on your behalf and recommend vendors so we move successfully from contract to closing.

9. Prepare for closing. A few days before closing (also known as settlement), we will contact the title company and the buyer’s agent to ensure that all the necessary forms and documents have been prepared. We will work with you to review the closing documents and let you know what additional forms and information you need to bring to the closing meeting.

10. Close! At the closing meeting, ownership of your property is legally transferred to the buyer. We will be present to advise you and ensure that everything goes according to plan.