Nine Maintenance Items to Check Before Selling
INMAN says it is It’s that time of year again; the 2018 selling season is upon us. If you are getting ready to put your home on the market, the task list to prep for the market can seem endless. To make it easy, we’ve compiled a home maintenance list for you of the nine maintenance items to check before selling. Before putting that for sale sign in the ground.
Before you put your house up for sale, go to some open houses in your neighborhood. I suspect, after just a few visits to homes on the market, you’ll see the good and bad ways to prepare your house for sale. You will quickly discover that selling your house is not about you, but getting the prospective home buyer to picture their belongings and their lives in your space. How do you do that?
Nine Maintenance Items to Check Before Selling
- Make their first visit to your home a lasting impression. The lawn should be mowed and edged, dead stuff taken away or raked, plants trimmed, and flowers blooming in the flower beds. Wash the siding and windows. To sell your home fast in SE Washington, you are going for curb appeal.
- Freshly paint the front door. Your door sets the example for your house. Make sure the doorbell and porch light work. While in the painting mood, take down the pictures from the walls, spackle the nail holes, and paint, sticking to neutral colors.
- Make it smell good when they walk in. There’s a wonderful resort at Emerald Bay in Mazatlan, Mexico. When you enter the lobby, you a greeted by a clean, tropical smell that makes you want to linger. Have a friend walk into your home and give it the smell test. To sell your home fast in SE Washington, it should smell good.
- Declutter every room. “Get rid of the family pictures,” says, Staci Byers, home stager in Portland. “Get out of your house!” You want them to imagine their belongings, pictures, art, books in “their” new home. Get them to thinking, “This is my house.” from the time they walk in the door.
- You’ve de-cluttered the house. Is it deep-clean? Nothing will turn off the buyer more than filth. If they feel unclean walking through your house, you’ve failed to make a sale. Remember “Poltergeist” and the little lady who rid the house of ghosts? She dusted off her hands and said, “This house is clean!”
More of the Nine Maintenance Items to Check Before Selling
- Clean out the closets, the medicine cabinet, and the tops of dressers. The buyer doesn’t want to see any of that.
- Service the heating/cooling system. “A home inspector is going to check this anyway, so beat ’em to the punch by having the system serviced and cleaned. When was the last time it was serviced anyway?”
- Clear out the garage. “Often overlooked when preparing a home for sale, don’t forget this space. Make sure the garage is clean, in good repair, organized and that you can actually walk through it.”
- Stage your home for sale or hire a home stager. Your home will be clean, sleek, no distractive décor, and your chances will be great for a quick sale. Staged homes sell quicker, and for a higher price. You will also need professional photos. A staged house draws more buyers to an open house.
There is another way!