As you prepare to sell your home, you should be aware that there are a few factors that may influence how quickly and how much your home may sell for. Some of these factors may include: location, size and age of your home, your home's condition. However, subjective factors that may influence how a potential buyer feels about your home may affect the speed and final price of your sale as well. These factors may include: the decor and layout of your home.
If you are ready to help your home sell quickly, you may want to spend some time staging it. Because your home has likely been tailored to the needs and tastes of your family, this may be more challenging than you think. Here are a few things you can do to make your home ready to be shown:
Depersonalize your home
Homes that are too personal to the owner are hard to show. Potential buyers may like the home, but have difficulty picturing themselves in it with all of your mementos and personal treasures. Therefore, the goal is to get your home to a minimalist, Pottery Barn like look, similar to a model home.
- Remove clutter such as pictures off the refrigerator, photos off the wall and other knick knacks cluttering up shelves and other counter spaces
- Hide your personal hygiene items from the bathroom
- Pack up toys
- Pack up out of season clothing to make closets look more spacious
Neutralize your home
Make sure paint colors in all rooms are neutral. Touch up any spots that may be scratched up or any holes from items being hung up.
Make sure it's well lit
Turn on all lights before you leave, and open curtains or blinds if a showing is during the day to let in natural light. Keeping doors to rooms open encourages the interested buyer to tour the home thoroughly.
As you consider staging your home, remember that you can do much of this staging yourself, however there are professional staging companies if that is within your budget. Your real estate agent can help you with tips and tricks that have worked in other properties.
