When you are preparing to sell your home so that you can move into a new one, you need to make sure that you do everything you can to make the property as appealing as possible to potential buyers. This can be a tricky business, though, as knowing what buyers want to see in a home takes experience and insight into the market.
While you will of course want to enlist the help and guidance of a qualified agent, there are a few things you can do to get your house in top shape. Your overall goal should be to put as much work into things before you officially list so that your house spends as little time as possible on the market.
It is important to remain objective during this process though, as potential buyers won’t have the emotional attachment to the property that you do. Here are a few things you can do prior to listing that can help get your house ready for potential buyers.
Remove All Clutter
The thought of de-cluttering your house can be stressful in and of itself. The actual process, though, can be downright intimidating. Some people recognize that their house has become cluttered over the years and don’t even know where to begin when it comes to removing the superfluous items that have accumulated over time. Others might mistakenly think that their house has no clutter to remove. No matter what your perspective is, the best way to start is to simply begin.
Potential buyers will want to visualize themselves in the house, so help them along by removing all personal items and family photos from the walls and shelves. Next, think about the items that you can live without in the short term while your house is on the market. These things should all be removed even if you think they don’t particularly clutter a space. At the very least, by taking such items out of the picture you can help make a space feel more open.
You very likely won’t have enough space in your attic or basement for all the things you need to remove from your home prior to listing. It is easy enough to find a rubbish removal company to remove unwanted stuff or find a storage unit by looking at StorageArea.com.
Make the Place Spotless
The other major thing that will instantly eliminate any interest in your home that a potential buyer might have had is if the property isn’t completely clean. Even if you are a clean person at the best of times and have a regular weekly chore list that you complete, you will still need to do a deep clean on your house prior to listing it.
Furthermore, once you have generated interest in your property and you have showings lined up, you will want to make sure that you clean your house just before a buyer comes to take a look. Vacuuming floors, dusting shelves, and keeping your windows spotless should all be on your to-do list in such cases.