home prep steps
GET TO KNOW YOUR HOME
Over the years, our homes can take on unseen wear and tear. That's why it's important to get reacquainted with your home's not-so-selling points before you prep it for the market. To do this, we normally recommend biting the bullet of uncertainty and getting a professional home inspection done. This will allow you to fully educate yourself on the home's issues from top to bottom and take care of anything possible depending on your budget, timeline and desired price point.
HANDLE BIG TO-DOs
Big repairs can scare off even the most reliable of buyers, so it's best to take care of any deal-breaking items before you list your home. This can include issues like major structural problems, roof repairs, major water damage, mold mitigation and more. Unsure whether or not something needs to be addressed before you list? Just ask! Or maybe you're not able to financially handle any repairs before listing your home? Don't worry, it's possible to sell your home "as-is", we'll simply want to discuss what differences you should expect from an "as-is" sale.
TIDY UP
It's time to start cleaning, organizing and de-cluttering like you've never done before! When prepping your home to hit the market, you'll want to make sure that the home is deep cleaned, that closets, garages and storage spaces are highly organized and every room is given a unique purpose. Need advice on how to arrange things or connections to junk removal resources? We've got your back. Just ask!
GO FOR NEUTRAL
While neutral may not be the most exciting PERSONAL home choice, it is the one that sells homes the most effectively. Take a room-by-room inventory of things like bold paint colors, personalized family items and bright decor and scale it all back. The goal is to allow any potential buyer to envision THEIR life in this space, not to see a reflection of yours. This process includes returning any colorful walls to a more demure state, taking down personal photos and replacing them with universal art and swapping out busy or highly individualized home decor with simple, clean choices. Need help staging your home for sale? We have a fantastic home staging partner that can help you do just that.
SIMPLIFY
Real life doesn't look like the pages of a magazine, but when it comes to selling your home, mimicking the simplified styles of the Crate & Barrel catalog will get you a lot farther. Go through each room with a critical eye and decide which furniture and decor pieces can be eliminated to modernize the room. Decide if anything needs to be ADDED to improve the appeal of a space as well. Maybe that empty wall would actually make more sense with a tasteful table and decorative bowl on it that allows potential buyers to imagine setting their keys down each time they "come home".
FRESHEN THE EXTERIOR
Put on your gardening gloves, set Home Depot to speed dial and get to work! Upping the curb appeal of your home goes a long way in getting buyers in the door. Keep garden beds weeded, apply fresh mulch and keep grass regularly trimmed. Think about adding some seasonal color to your front yard display, changing out your house numbers to something more visually appealing or even slapping on a fresh coat of exterior paint job if needed. Attractive outdoor fixtures, charming mailboxes and a quality welcome mat can also increase the outdoor appeal. Don't forget to spend time in your backyard as well to allow potential buyers to imagine spending their sunny days in your awesome outdoor oasis.
BRIGHTEN THE INTERIOR
Sprucing up the interior of your home is about more than putting a fresh coat of paint on the walls. The goal is to bring as much nature light and fresh touches into the space as possible. This could include swapping out your heavy, dark curtains for light, white linen ones to allow the light to shine through, lightening up or modernizing the fixtures and knobs, incorporating fresh elements like real or faux floral arrangements, adding lamps or light fixtures to spaces that seem overly dark or one of our favorite tricks: adding mirrors to walls that face windows to mimic natural light. Once your house is on the market, make sure you open all the blinds, curtains and shades and turn on lights and lamps in the house before each showing to maximize appeal.