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!!!!!

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

Organize, Organize, ORGANIZE!

Okay.  You've completed the first 5 items on the list.  (By the way, you do NOT have to do them in this exact order.  These are guides!)  Now, you're wondering what's next?  The next step is to organize everything!  This is to include closets, cupboards, pantries, EVERYTHING! Whether you realize it or not, potential buyers WILL look through everything.  (And on a side note, please make sure that you lock up things like guns, ammunition, prescription meds, etc.)  After all, they want to see how their things will fit into this potential future home.  Yes, there are some that are just being nosey, unfortunately.  It's an unfortunate fact of life, but if you lock away things that you need to or don't want anyone to see, you should be just fine!

Anyway, starting in the bathroom, you should go through all of your medicines.  It's a good idea to do this periodically to ensure that your medicines aren't expired, and in this case, to help you pare things down a bit.  Any bathroom appliances like old curling irons you haven't used in 10 years need to GO.  Old make-up, empty shampoo bottles, anything that's old needs to be tossed out as well.  If you have a linen closet in or close to the bathroom, make sure that the towels, washcloths, etc., are all folded and stacked neatly.  Make it look like it would at a high-end hotel.  Get rid of towels that have a ton of holes in them or are worn down to nearly nothing.  (I would just hide them somewhere because I LOVE those ones to put my hair in when it's wet!)  Wipe the drawers, shelves, and cabinets out clean and replace what's left.  Keep it looking nice!!!  It's super-easy to maintain with limited time if you just keep it up. 

Closets are next.  Coat closets and bedroom closets are where you need to head to.  Depending on the time of year, that will determine what needs to be in your closets.  And keep it as MINIMAL as possible.  You want to give perspective buyers the idea that there's a TON of storage space in your home.  You can't typically do that if you have your entire wardrobe stuffed into your closet.  As much of a pain as it is, store things that are out of season.  Coat closets do need to have something in them, even during the summer, so maybe some light jackets or house sweaters (don't judge...) would suffice.  You can even go a step further and color coordinate the hangers, or buy hangers all of one color.  It's just an extra finishing touch that's nice, but that one's not exactly necessary.

The pantry and kitchen cupboards are next.  Get rid of the expired stuff!  You don't need it, and you shouldn't eat it.  Get things together.  For example, all of the spices should be together.  The baking items should be together.  If you can afford it, get some pretty jars to keep some of this stuff in.  Again, not necessary, but a very nice added touch!  Wipe the inside of the cupboards/pantry/cabinets down.  Get them CLEAN.  Get under that kitchen sink and make it look as glorious as you possibly can!  People WILL look under there.  When putting things away, make sure that it's neat and tidy.  If that's not how you typically live, you will need to do it while your home is on the market.  This is a non-negotiable!

Finally, any kind of storage areas like the garage, attic, and any other storage places need to be organized, cleaned out, and swept if at all possible!  Again, people WILL be looking into these places, trying to envision their things in your house!

Make sure that, while your house is on the market that you keep up with everything every single day.  Yes, it's exhausting, but well worth the effort.  When a showing call comes in, you won't be running around like a crazy person trying to tie up loose ends.

Happy selling!!!

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

Day 5~ Fresh Paint!!

This may or may not be necessary for your home.  For example, if your walls don't practically glow in the dark and people don't cringe when they enter your home, you might be okay!  Has is been years since you painted your home last?  Look through home decorator magazines and look at the wall colors.  This will give you a great place to start seeing what is current and appropriate for more potential buyers.  Have a friend come over and give their honest opinion.  Again, you need a friend that's going to be honest with you about this.  If you don't have a good, honest friend then make sure you get a great real estate agent that will be honest with you and tell you what needs to be done.

Understand that you need to paint your walls a neutral color.  By neutral, I do NOT mean ALL beige or white.  I used to think that "neutral" meant "beige".  There was a time when that was true.  However, we have a gazillion different colors that we can now choose from, and there are many that are more neutral.  If you're like me, going into a home improvement store's paint section is a nerve-wracking experience.  However, you can go there, speak to a knowledgeable associate, get a few different samples for a reasonable price, take them home, and make your wall look like an interesting quilt.  "Why?", you ask?  Well, these colors are going to look completely different on your walls at home than they do in the store.  Period.  I don't care how many different kinds of light they have there, the paint WILL.  LOOK.  DIFFERENT.  IN.  YOUR.  HOME! 

Once you have "quilted" your walls with these colors, (and please make certain that you remember what colors are where on your walls!) take a few days to look at them in different lighting in different times of day.  Again, get an honest friend or an honest real estate agent to tell you what works and doesn't!  And then the prep work will begin.  At the bottom of this post, I'm going to give you a link on "10 Things You Must Know About Interior Painting" from the DIY Network.  It's a great guide that's going to help you get exceptional results!

You need to make certain that you properly prep your walls and trim to be painted.  As someone who's painted on numerous occasions, this is VITAL.  Every detail truly matters, and this one can make a huge difference in how the paint looks.  Again, you can hire a professional, but it can be a massive expense!  If you're not comfortable doing it mostly on your own, take a couple of weekends, get some friends together, buy enough food and beverages to feed everyone when they come over, and get it done!  You will save a fortune if you have some good friends to help you along the way.  Just make sure that they are as concerned about getting the good results for you that you're looking for!

Once your home is freshly painted, the potential buyers that walk through will notice the difference!  Good luck and happy selling!


http://www.diynetwork.com/painting/10-things-you-must-know-about-interior-painting/pictures/index.html

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

Fix What's Broken!

Okay, folks.  This one seems so simple, but I cannot begin to tell you how many times that I've heard a seller tell me, "Well it's functioned just fine for me, so it will be just fine for the next person."  If you want a "just fine" price, maybe that's a good attitude to have.  However, people that don't care to fix the issues typically think that they will get more money by not putting anything into their home to get it sold.  

 

I hate to be there bearer of bad news, but no.  That's so not how it works.  Every little detail that a buyer can negotiate on, you'd best believe that they're going to do whatever they can do in order to get the best price they can get on your home.  If there's a huge list that has to be completed, I can almost promise you that, at the negotiation table, every little item will start to add up quickly.  Now, if you're handy, there may be several items that you can take care of on your own.  However, when in doubt, hire it out!!  The advantage to you taking care of this list ahead of time is that it not only makes less time and room for negotiations, but your home will typically sell quicker. 

 

One thing that you can do that will help you with your list of things that you can and can't see is to go ahead and get a home inspection done.  Depending on your area, that can start around $450, but in the listing your agent does of your home, the agent can state that the inspection was already completed and every item was taken care of.  (It's even better if there are no items, but I haven't seen that yet!)  Once you get the inspection taken care of, use the report to go through and take care of everything on that list.  Also, share with your agent that you've done this if they didn't already know.  

 

Now, if you're financially able to take care of some of these changes on your own, then do it!  If not, take time and talk to your agent about how to price your house appropriately with the market and the needed repairs.  Unfortunately, you can't base the price on what you paid for it 5 years ago, or how much of a down payment you need for your next home purchase.  The market, quite frankly, doesn't really care about any of that stuff!

 

Again, doing these repairs before you put your home on the market will help in the negotiation process, and will potentially help you get more money for your current home!

 

Good luck and happy selling!!