Selling your Home? Less is Definitely More
If you’re thinking of selling your home, cleaning up and removing clutter is a good place to start. De-cluttering helps you get organized so when you get a contract on your home, the thought of having to move out of it won’t be as daunting. It also helps potential buyers visualize themselves in the space instead of being overwhelmed by your stuff.
Don’t forget to keep your home clean while you have it on the market. Keeping a clean home implies you take care of it and keeps the buyers from getting distracted and missing your home’s best features.
Here are a few tips to make your home more attractive to a potential buyer:
Keep it Clean
- Keeping up with the chores can be tough; Make a weekly schedule. Do the deep cleaning items one at a time, such as cleaning the floors, scrubbing the tub, dusting, and doing lawn maintenance. If you are really pressed for time, invest in a service company to take care of these things for you. The money will come back to you at the closing table.
- Pick up after everything you do, and if you have trouble doing that, hide it. Dishes and laundry are a daily mess. Make sure to toss those dirty dishes in the dishwasher as soon as you’re done with them, or switch to disposable dishes while your home is on the market. For your mountain of laundry, you may want to invest in some decorative laundry baskets with lids; or, just make sure your clothing ends up out of sight in the laundry room or in a basket stashed in a closet or cabinet. Keeping your home clean will keep the buyer from getting distracted on a walk through.
Reduce Clutter
- Clean out closets, pick up clutter, and pare down what’s inside. Less clutter will make your home easier to clean for showings. More room in your closets will allow you to throw some of your daily mess into the closet when you have a buyer who may want a showing on a very short notice. You do want to give every opportunity for someone to buy your home right? That goes for those treasured family photos and mementos, too. The reason? Besides adding a spacious feel to the home, pared-down surroundings can help potential buyers better envision themselves and their family photos in the house.
- Pack away items and special collections usually displayed in cabinets and hutches, and move a few pieces of furniture out of the house. This will help buyers to better see where their furniture might go in the house as well as protect your belongings while people are wondering through. You certainly do not want someone to bump into your beloved family treasure and have it broken on the floor.
Tone Down the Creativity
- So, you like your house to “say something” about your personality. Well, it’s time to tone it down. Go buy some plain-vanilla paint to cover those red-and-purple walls in your boudoir—it’ll make a difference when you’re trying to sell your home. Many buyers can’t see your Picasso genius (and just can’t get past the splatter-paint wall in the living room) to visualize colors they’re more comfortable with. Buyers see paint, wallpaper and odd fixtures as money and time spent. Your baseball glove ceiling fan may not be what the buyer envisions for a place to have their mother in law sleep.
- If you’ve got an Italian fresco on a living room wall that stops people in their tracks, they may lose sight of the rest of the home’s wonderful features. If you’re resistant to do anything about it, ask someone you trust to give you an independent view of your home. Better yet, ask your realtor if the house looks cluttered or if any colors are too bright. Some may see bright colors as gaudy. Listen to their answers and take their advice.
By “paring down,” organizing, and carefully sorting your possessions, you’re ensuring that your home will appeal to the greatest number of potential buyers. Remember to remove about half of the items stored in closets and cabinets and toss or give away things you don’t use. Not only will de-cluttering and cleaning help to sell your house quickly, you’ll be ahead of the game when it comes to packing up and moving to your new location.
De-cluttering and cleaning will increase your chances of selling your home quicker and for higher because the buyer will see the value of your property, not a bunch of work to spend money and time on.