Quick Steps You Can Take to Improve Your Home for Sale
If the current worldwide health crisis and economic worries that come with it mean that you need to sell your home sooner than planned, it’s important to take the necessary steps to improve the look, feel, and functionality of your house.
Doing this will help you to sell it more quickly and to achieve a better price, too. There are numerous steps you can take over the coming weeks to get your property ready for sale.
Clean and Declutter
Start by cleaning and decluttering your home inside and out. To enable your property to shine, ensure it’s not bursting at the seams with “stuff” that takes away from its size or charm. Clear out the clutter so potential buyers can see the house for all of it. Go through every room, not forgetting closets, the garage, attic, and basement, and remove as much as possible. If you’re going to move anyhow, see this as also a prime opportunity to pare back your belongings.
Sell or donate what you can and recycle or throw out the rest. If you really can’t bear to part with a lot of things, at least place some possessions into storage while your home is on the market. Then, once you’ve minimized the items in your property, give everything a thorough clean. Make it all sparkle, and every room will soon look newer, fresher, and more appealing to buyers.
Make Necessary Repairs
Next, look around and see if there are areas of the home needing renovating or repairing. Often, with general wear and tear, there are issues like holes in walls, torn or scratched flooring, leaking faucets, moldy bathrooms, and broken window latches.
You might also have appliances that need attention. If so, call in tradespeople and other professionals to handle necessary dishwasher repair work, air conditioning services, cooktop maintenance, washing machine part replacements, and related tasks.
Take the opportunity now to get everything in good working order. This way, if buyers want to test things out, or if they conduct multiple inspections (perhaps even hiring specialists to compile extensive building reports), they won’t be turned off by the thought of having to replace many white goods or fittings and fixtures.
Display Appropriate Furniture
Something else you can do to improve your home for sale is to choose the best furniture options to display during open houses. The furniture within your property has more of an impact on the look and feel of the home than you might think. Try to examine your décor with fresh eyes to see how it might come across to others.
In particular, remove large, bulky pieces of furniture. You don’t want these to make rooms feel smaller than they are. Also, don’t have too many pieces of furniture in one spot, either, as this can make zones feel cluttered. It’s better to streamline décor and leave lots of space between pieces so those inspecting the house can move around with ease.
It’s an investment, but you may want to consider buying some new furniture that showcases the house in a better light. This idea works well if you know you plan to switch out your current pieces for new ones when you move anyhow.
Alternatively, dress your home with hired furniture to stage it effectively. This is the perfect option if you’ve already moved out of your house. An empty property is generally harder to sell than a furnished one, after all.
Improve Curb Appeal
Curb appeal is also vital when attempting to get an excellent price for a home. You want potential buyers to get a favorable impression when they arrive at your property, rather than being turned off and not bothering to inspect it internally.
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Consider completing outside jobs such as:
- Painting the exterior of your house
- Replacing the front door and updating hardware such as doorknobs, lighting, outdoor blinds and awnings, and your mailbox and street numbers
- Brightening entranceways with potted flowers or window boxes
- Adding or repairing fences, so the property is safe for children and pets
- Clearing out gutters
- Cleaning and repairing the roof and chimney(s) if needed
- Decluttering the yard, including taking down old, rusted out play equipment and unused furniture
- Getting the lawn lush and mowing regularly
- Cutting back overgrown gardens or planting new flowers, trees, or shrubs to add pizazz to the yard
The steps mentioned take some time, effort, and in some cases money, but the end result is sure to yield results. Invest in your home today, and you should receive that investment back – and more – when you sell your home for a higher price.