10 Spruce-Up Tips in 10 Days. Get More Added Value to Your Home Before You Put it on the Market!!

Getting Ready for the OPEN HOUSE!!!

This is one that I have mixed emotions about.  I've had a lot of sellers that insist on having an open house for their home.  Very rarely, it's how you sell your home.  It's really a tool that the real estate agents typically use to get more clientele.  Regardless, I want to give you some tips on how to make your open house a successful one.

First, make sure your agent is on top of it.  This means that they are sending out invites to their fellow real estate community, including other agents, mortgage bankers and brokers, home inspectors, etc., not to mention their own client base.  YOU also have a responsibility to be proactive in getting the word out about the Open House.  Make sure that everyone knows that your house is on the market, when the Open House is, and what time it will happen.  

Second, make sure that your house is show-place looking, sparkly clean, absolutely perfect both inside and out.  ZERO excuses.  I don't care how tired you are.  How long your week was.  This is completely your responsibility.  

Third, make sure that your agent is bringing snacks and drinks.  This is one of the draws for people to come!  Seriously!!!!  If your agent isn't planning on bringing anything, either fire your agent and find one that will do it right, or make your own snacks.  And don't complain if you make your own snacks.  If you won't find an agent that will do the job right and you refuse to fire them, that's on YOU!  So don't complain if you aren't doing what's necessary as far as holding your agent's feet to the fire!

Finally, LEAVE and let your agent do their job!  It's not comfortable for perspective buyers to come into your home while you're there and openly discuss how they truly feel about your home.  They will say a lot more to the agent (it's even better if your agent has feedback cards for them to fill out) than they will to you.

Make sure that you sit down with your agent, go over the feedback, and do what you can to fix any issues that seem to be cropping up constantly with more than just one or two potential buyers.  (You will not please everyone.)  Take your emotions OUT of what the people are saying, and focus on what you can fix within reason!  Don't worry about what's out of your control.

Good luck and Happy Selling!!

10 Spruce-Up Tips in 10 Days. Get More Added Value to Your Home Before You Put it on the Market!!

Keep it UP!

This is one of those things that sounds oh-so-easy in print, but it really is a lot harder when you're running around just living life!  In all seriousness, there's things you do for the interior and things you do for the exterior.

For the interior, you need to have a bottle of glass cleaner in every bathroom and in the kitchen.  This is one of the quickest and easiest ways you can keep these rooms clean at all times.  Every morning, spray glass cleaner all over the vanity(-ies) in the bathroom(s) and all over the mirrors.  Wipe down the toilet(s).  Either sweep or run a quick vacuum.  Make sure that the front of the vanity is clean.  In the kitchen, spray every single surface from the counters to the appliances to the front of the cabinets.

You need to make sure that you're dusting every couple of days.  Get either a Swiffer or something similar.  I use those, but I also use microfiber cloths.  You just have to wipe quickly, and you're done.  Do this in every room.  If you have kids, make a game of it! 

Vacuum and sweep.  Set a timer for each room, and just spend 5 minutes in each room doing what it is that you need to do.  At night, do a quick mopping of the floor.  Do this in the bathroom(s) as well.  The cleaning supplies will give you a nice, clean scent, and they will also clean the surfaces for you!  (DUH!)

For the outside, weed once per week in the flower beds.  Weed eat.  Make sure that the bushes are trimmed up nice and pristine.  Mow the lawn.  Water the lawn and plants to keep them looking nice.  Make sure the mulch looks good and fresh!  You want the house to look like the best-maintained one in your neighborhood and hopefully on the market in your price range.  It really does make a difference!!!

You never know when that call is going to come in to show your house.  Keep with it and treat the maintenance of your home with the utmost urgency.  After all, you do want it to sell, right?

Good luck and Happy Selling!

10 Spruce-Up Tips in 10 Days. Get More Added Value to Your Home Before You Put it on the Market!!

Staging Is More Important Than You Realize!

This is one of those steps that I really enjoy, but I expect that there's a lot of people that don't.  Again, it does involve work.  You will probably be sore if you do this on your own.  (Which I don't recommend.  Furniture can get heavy!) But, once it's done, you will see the results and be glad that you did!  You can also hire someone to do it if you live in an area where there are companies that stage.  Your agent should be able to help you with either finding a company, or walking you through the process.  Your agent may have also taken a staging course, which would really benefit you during this phase.

However, there are many folks who don't want to spend the money it would take to professionally stage a home, and they prefer to do it on their own.  If that's YOU, then listen up!  I have some tips that will help you along the way!

First, depersonalize everything you're able to.  Pack up your wedding pics, family pics, kid pics, everything that doesn't help to perspective buyers visualize anyone but them living in the home.  If you haven't done so already, declutter!  Seriously, it makes a HUGE difference.  If you can afford to, go buy nice baskets to put things into them like games, puzzles, toys, video game controllers and games, you get the idea.  If you go to yard sales or thrift stores, you can get some at those places that are mismatched and spray paint them all so they're cohesive to your space.  When you're on a budget, you HAVE to get creative!  Just make sure that you store things neatly into the baskets that you've gotten!

Next is to move your furniture around in your rooms.  You want the rooms to feel open and spacious.  NOT sterile.  There's a HUGE difference.  Sterile makes people feel like they're in just a house.  You want your house to feel like a home.  Look through magazines/websites to get inspiration.  HGTV has both.  Better Homes and Gardens has both.  There are probably about a zillion options to choose from!  Just start thumbing through the pages either in the magazine or on the website to get some great inspiration for your different spaces.  You would be amazed at what you can find.  Just don't overwhelm yourself with too many ideas.  Simplicity is key here.  You want every room to be cohesive with the next.  You want the rooms to feel comfortable.  The bathrooms need to feel almost spa-like.  This is what buyers expect more and more often now.  Your master bedroom needs to be a retreat.  The other bedrooms need to be comfortable and welcoming for kids or guests.  Your living room/family room needs to be a place where people can feel like they can gather with family.  Get the picture??

With some time, effort, and hopefully some friends, you should be able to get your home staged and nearly ready for sale!

Happy Selling!

10 Spruce-Up Tips in 10 Days. Get More Added Value to Your Home Before You Put it on the Market!!

Clean That House!

Again, WHY do I continue to go into homes that are on the market that are too disgusting to even discuss?  WHY?  You put your home on the market, and it isn't clean....This is like going to the grocery store to buy bread and buying the moldy bread, not the fresh bread!

Cleaning is absolutely essential, and you have to do things that you typically may not notice.  For example, light fixtures are very important.  It seems like something so insignificant, but you would be amazed at the difference that it makes!  I would recommend starting at the top and working your way down.  Ceiling fans, light fixtures, crown moldings (if you don't have crown, make sure that the cobwebs are removed from where the walls meet the ceiling), baseboards~they need to be wiped down and potentially painted if you didn't already do that~ walls if you didn't paint those, scrub the floors, and clean the heck out of the carpets!  

Also, in the bathrooms, scrub them until they sparkle.  Do the same in the kitchen.  I typically don't plug any products, but there's one that I absolutely cannot live without called Bar Keeper's Friend.  This stuff is amazing!  You can clean everything from copper, old farmhouse sinks, stainless steel, EVERYTHING!  I have an old porcelain sink in our current home.  When we moved in, the house had been vacant for well over a year, and I had what I thought was a light yellow 70's-style sink.  It was WHITE.  And it still is.  Again, I cannot emphasize it enough, that stuff ROCKS!

If you put in the extra effort using elbow grease, I promise you that you will reap the rewards.  The buyers that come through your home will give much more positive feedback, and more real estate agents will want to show your home more often.  This is a win-win!

Good luck and happy selling!!!!!