Improving Your Indoor Appeal
You know you should clean everything and get rid of clutter. But aside from that, how do you broaden the appeal of your house?
Here are a few tips:
- Walk through the house and prioritize things that, if changed, would increase the value of your home. For example, repainting a loud colored wall may attract more buyers than something not as apparent, such as replacing an old dishwasher. Sure updated appliances are great but buyers will get more distracted by your lime green accent wall than your outdated equipment. Neutral colors offer the feeling of a space they buyer can see themselves in.
- You can direct a potential buyer’s eye away from something negative or toward something positive. Use artwork or a room’s own features such as fireplaces , built in bookshelves and accent lighting. However, there’s a fine line. You want buyers to be able to appreciate the purpose and use of those extra touches but not get distracted from the space as a whole.
- Remove any furniture that tightens spaces. If a couch or chair makes you turn your body as you walk by or just makes a passage look small, get rid of it. Part of a buyer seeing your homes value is seeing the space being utilized well if it is smaller so it feels bigger or not having an over crowded large space so they can easily place themselves and belongings there.
- Rid the house of personal effects such as your most of your family photos , magnets and clutter on the fridge, and over abundance of wall decor. While you may want live, laugh and love with your Star Wars collection in one corner and Picasso in another it will have the buyer judging you and not your space. With that being said do not take out too much. It is important the home still feels like a home. You do not want blank walls and shelves entirely but each space needs to feel purposeful and used.
- Potential buyers often feel uncomfortable in bedrooms and bathrooms because they are, by definition, personal and private places. To counter this reaction, make bedrooms and bathrooms look more hotel like. Start by putting away the countertop clutter such as toiletries, jewelry trees, and dirty towels thrown across counter tops and floors. Put nice fresh towels on each towel rack folded neatly. Leave the toilet lid down. If you have soaps and lotions on the counter make sure they are in decorative dishes and kept to a minimum. The goal is to make these rooms feel clean and comfortable for buyers.
- Hire professionals and use services to help ease some of the burden. Weather it is lawncare, a maid service to do deep cleaning once a week, hiring an interior decorator to help you stage your home or packing and moving some clutter out to a storage unit or pod. Spending a little extra cash while and before you get your home on the market will pay off at closing.