Preparing Your Home

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Prepare Yourself Before You List

When you begin to get the glimmer of knowledge that you are going to have to sell you home, that’s when you really should start considering the things you need to do to help you down the road.   Here are some suggestions that might prove helpful:

1) Order a Home Inspection: When you’re ready to put your home on the market, you might consider having your own home inspection done so you know exactly what condition your property is in, especially if it’s a second home or a rental property.  This way, you can make repairs on any defects, disclose it or know up front how to address it with any potential buyers. This can prevent a lot of headaches later when a potential sale falls apart because of what a Buyer’s Home Inspection reveals. If you have any problems addressed ahead of time, it makes for a smoother transaction and eliminates stress later during a critical time in the sale of your home.

I once had a Seller who took my advice and ordered a home inspection since the house was a second home and she really didn’t know what was going on with the house since she lived in Tennessee. I informed all agents who brought clients that we had a home inspection conducted and that the owner was planning on making all the repairs cited in the inspection. When we got an offer, the Buyers opted not to order their own inspection but rather, requested that we show them the one that had just been completed and made their requests for repairs off of that inspection. It made for such an easy and simple transaction because the owner had taken the initiative and set repairs into motion already.

2) Review Your Home Objectively: This is something with which your REALTOR® can be very helpful. You can also enlist the help of friends and family for help.  Most people gradually adapt and accept their home’s condition. You walk through your house every day and may never notice the high-traffic marks on the carpet, the smudges on the walls or water stain on the ceiling from when your roof leaked 3 years ago. The leak may be all fixed now, but the stain is still there. You should walk through your own home as if you were a stranger. Trust me, a buyer will notice that stain and make it an issue.  Each flaw can be a potential reduction in the offering price.  So walk through and around the outside and look for flaws, that’s what your Buyers will be doing. Note what you like best, find things that need improvement.

Don’t take things too personally and try not to get offended. Your Agent is there to help you to see your home objectively, to point out things that you may not notice or consider a problem. Remember, your Agent works with Buyers everyday and know the things that they tend to notice most. Take a step back and try and take emotions out of the equation.

3) De-Personalize Your Home: Everyone knows to keep their house clean and presentable when it’s for sale, but not everyone understands this concept of de-personalizing your home.  It is always a good idea to present your home in the simplest, cleanest way possible to allow potential Buyers to see the house, not your “stuff.”

This may mean removing that cherished collection of glass butterflies or majolica that covers all the shelves in your living room, taking down the 500 framed photos of your entire family that line the long, narrow hallway to the bedrooms, or removing some of that really large furniture in that really small family room. This can involve putting away the magnets and kid’s art projects covering the refrigerator, clearing all your small appliances from the countertops, thinning out the memorabilia on your bookshelves. Anything that attracts a potential Buyer’s eyes away from the House should be put away. Anything that highlights a potential problem needs to go, such as clutter on small countertops.

It may sound harsh and insensitive, but the cold hard fact is that you are trying to sell your house, not showcase your belongings. Since you’re moving anyway, why not go ahead and pack up these items and store them away somewhere safe?

Paint color can also be very personal. Many homes are viewed negatively because the Buyer cannot look beyond a room color. Most homes sell best in neutral tones. It may be worth the investment to repaint certain rooms to maximize your home’s viability such as painting over the bright pink in the family room with a neutral beige. If you’re serious about selling, this is something that can really help. If you’re not up to painting, your REALTOR® may recommend that you offer a re-decorating/painting allowance to convince buyers to overlook any potentially distracting paint colors.

4) Re-Arrange Furniture: We tend to arrange furniture in the way that best suits our needs for day to day living - which may not always be the most aesthetically pleasing for a given room. It’s amazing what a simple shift in furniture can do to a room. Consider rearranging some furniture, especially if you have anything blocking a window or a patio door. Anything that blocks flow of traffic from room to room or potential light is a major no-no.

Blocking an unused doorway or window can sometimes mean there’s something wrong with that particular entrance or area and sets off warning signals to potential buyers. If you have a lot of furniture in small room, you may consider removing some of it to open up the room, rather than emphasize it’s small size.  If you have furniture that impedes the flow of traffic from room to room, a quick shift in the arrangement can make a world of difference.

5) Define Rooms: It’s not uncommon for rooms to be used for purposes other than what they were originally intended for. For instance, sometimes a formal dining room may be used as a children’s play area, a guest bedroom may also double as a home office or sewing room, sometimes, several guest rooms are simply used as extra closets.

If this sounds like your home…stop it NOW!  If people are confused by the purpose of a room, their brain seems to shut down and stops processing the rest of the home. They walk away with a less than positive feeling about the house, effectively eliminating it from their ’short’ list.

Once again, since you’re planning on moving, you should have already cleared away unnecessary clutter – so why not go ahead and get rid of the hobby things as well? Turn the guest rooms into real guest rooms, ones that a stranger off the street can look at and go , “Ah, a guest room!” If you need the home office, then here’s what you do: If the room is large enough for both – then fine, keep the bedroom furniture AND the desk. BUT make sure the desk area is absolutely immaculate. No loose papers piled up on the floor, desk top cluttered with pens and scrap paper. Show potential buyers that the room is large enough to serve dual purposes and they will probably appreciate that – afterall, who couldn’t use a home office these days? If the room is too small to serve both purposes, then eliminate the bedroom and make it JUST a home office. Once again, for showing purposes, hide the junk and show only the minimal equipment – desk, computer, keyboard, printer. No papers, no files, no accessories. Just enough to allow people to look into the room and see that it’s a home office.

Dining rooms are commonly problematic. Many only use formal dining rooms for holidays or other special occasions. The rest of the year, it can often become the catch-all room for things with no where else to go. Rolls of extra Christmas wrapper sit idly in the corner (and it’s July), empty boxes from Crate & Barrel sit on some of the chairs (they were too nice to throw out and you might need them later…) and your scrapbooking materials are scattered all over the table since it’s the only space in the house where you can spread out and work… Well, find somewhere else for them to go.

Clear everything away and set your dining room table as if you are about to have the Queen of England herself over to dinner… Set beautiful place settings, set out some candles and don’t forget to place a simple center piece in the center. People will walk in and think, wow…now that’s a dining room.

6) Address Odors in Your Home: The Nose Knows…

Last but most importantly: Remember that the sense of smell is a critical factor in human responses. Smells can attract or repel in a split second. Some people are more sensitive to smells than others, but most will agree that the smell of a home is the first thing they notice upon entry into a home. The fresher and cleaner it smells, the better the overall response to your home will be.

If you have pets, consider having a friend or neighbor or other neutral party come into your home to give you an honest opinion of how your home smells. Don’t get me wrong – I love animals and have a dog myself… but we pet owners love our pets and often become immune to the odors that naturally come with pet ownership. Make an effort to reduce the causes of pet odor by keeping your pets outside if possible or very well-groomed. Make sure you keep litter boxes clean, bird cages clean, hamster cages and terrariums clean and in order. Consider having your carpets, drapes and furniture professional cleaned if odor is a problem.

If you’re a smoker, please take special heed! There is nothing more deterrent to selling a home than the smell of cigarette smoke imbedded in a home.  I don’t know how many times a potential buyer has walked out of a perfectly suitable home saying “It smells like an ashtray!” – effectively crossing that home off their list because of it. It stays with you… don’t let your home be remembered as the “one that smelled like an ashtray.” Let it be remembered for all the great features it has to offer!

Cigarette smoke is extremely pervasive and difficult to remove without great effort. If you smoke indoors, the smoke gets into your carpets, walls, even air ducts. As a smoker, you probably don’t even notice it because you’ve grown so accustomed to it. A non-smoker will notice even a hint of smoke and will get turned off.  You may need to get professional cleaners in to remove the odor. If you must smoke, make every effort to smoke outdoors with the doors shut and keep the smoke out of your house at all costs!!! Remember, you’re trying to get top dollar. A little inconvenience to your smoking habit should be worth the satisfaction of a quick sale and the extra money you could get for your property!

Some people are also extremely allergic to pets or smoke – sometimes both. I worked with a Buyer who stepped into a home where the owner smoked. He had to step outside half way through the showing because his eyes began to water badly – effectively removing that home from consideration just because of the smoke.

Both these sources of offensive odors cannot easily be resolved by commercially available air fresheners. In fact, it simply masks the odors and potential buyers can still smell the underlying problem.   Even if an air freshenrer effectively masks the smell, people aren’t stupid… they know that heavy fragrances usually means something is being hidden! You have to start with the basic cause of the odor – not trying to hide the problem once it occurs. For more information, please consult your agent.

Isn’t it in your best interest to do whatever it takes to get your home sold quickly and for top dollar? Correct any problems associated with the SMELL of your home!