How To Prepare Your Home For The Market

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By Jacob Maslow

Today’s real estate market is hyper-competitive. With a vast supply of homes available, buyers can be even pickier when it comes to purchasing a new home. If you’re trying to sell, you must make sure your home is in top shape, and ready to attract some choosy eyes.

Prepping your home for sale is no easy task, and it can be overwhelming to try to identify all that needs to be done. Let’s go over ten tips that can help you wow potential buyers and get the price that will make you happy. 

Clean Your Siding

If the exterior of your home looks worn and sloppy, buyers will immediately think that you’ve also slacked off on maintaining the inside. It’s easy to neglect the siding and the gutters for years at a time, but now’s the time to clean it up. 

 

Be sure to clear out the gutters, which can get backed up quickly after a few nasty storms. Make sure the siding looks as new as possible. If you don’t own a pressure washer, check with a neighbor or try renting one at your local hardware store. 

Make Any Major Repairs

While home-renovation and flipping houses are a TV trend, in reality, few buyers want to undertake any major repairs. You want your home to be in the best condition, so that means you’ll have to cover any major repairs. 

 

Check your roof to make sure that it’s in good condition as the average lifespan of your shingles is 20 years. If you know that your last replacement was more recent than that, it’s essential that you still check for any leaks or broken areas that may need some spot treatment. 

 

Broken windows and faulty major home-systems should also be addressed, as these are two signs to buyers that your home was not well maintained. 

Landscaping

Curb appeal, as it’s called in the real estate business, is how your home makes its first impression. Make sure the lawn looks immaculate, and your bushes are pruned. If you have a garden already, weed it and add some more flowers for charm. 

Smell is Everything

If you’re a big pet person, you might not even notice the smell of your dog and cat anymore, but someone who’s looking to buy your home definitely will. Hide the litter box and spray some air neutralizer throughout the house. 

Other smells like smoke, dirty clothes, and spicy or meaty food can be scents that will turn-off visitors. A classic trick to make the aroma of your home a little more appealing is to bake a batch of cookies or put out fresh flowers. Open the windows so there’s clean air flowing. 

Repaint

While your teal bathroom is beautiful, unfortunately, not everyone agrees when it comes to the aesthetic of walls. To prep your home for the market, it’s best to stick with a neutral color that will appeal to a broader range of buyers. 

Focus On The Front Door

If you want to get a little funky with paint, the front door is a great canvas. A fresh coat, especially one that contrasts with the rest of the home will make your home stand out. Also, make sure that your house number is easy to see so that people can find it from the road. 

Depersonalize

This step may be the hardest when it comes to selling your home. Depersonalizing your children’s bedrooms and the living room full of family photos can be sad and nostalgic, but it’s vital if you want to make a sale.

 

Buyers want to imagine making this house their new home, and it will be harder for them to do that if it’s full of your things. Rent a storage unit while you’re home is on the market and keep all of your trinkets, photos, and extra furniture there. 

Organize

One thing that buyers look for in a home is ample storage space. If your closets are messy and cluttered, people might think that there’s not enough room for their things. Make sure that these spaces are well-organized and tidy.

Deep Clean

Clean like you’ve never done before. Make every single surface in your home shine from the ceiling fans to the corner of your garage. Your home should be sparkling from the inside-out. 

 

You may want to hire a staging expert, who can give you an outside opinion, but friends and family can also provide necessary constructive criticism.  

Throw In Some Incentives

If you’re downsizing or just looking to start fresh, then why not leave some appliances as an incentive for buyers. Instead of trying to sell your flat-screen TV or your washer/dryer, offer it as part of the deal. The fewer people have to spend on these things, the better. 

The Verdict

While it can be stressful trying to sell your home, it’s also an exciting time. With these ten tips in mind, you can be a little more prepared when trying to get the most of your home from the market. 

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