1. Make Room - Clear out the over furnished rooms; put it all in storage if need be. A buyer is looking for a home for their family. Give them room to visualize their own belongings in the space.
2. De-Clutter and de-personalize - keep your bills, old magazine clippings, etc. off of the fridge. Pack away those prized pin collections, dolls, bears, ornaments. etc. Potential buyers will become distracted by looking at your personal photos and ‘things’ instead of being able to concentrate on the home itself.
3. Follow your nose - when you walk in your front door, does your house smell? Kitty litter, dog pee, dirty diapers, smoke, stale food odours, etc. This is one of the biggest turn offs to a buyer and they just won’t be able to get past it. So open the windows, and ensure your home always smells nice.
4. Remember, the next buyer is as lazy as you are. If your home needs work, has dated wallpaper, ratty carpet, banged up walls, doors, dripping faucets, or missing downspouts, you’re better off to address it before you list your home. A potential buyer walking through your home is mentally calculating the time, effort and money it will take them to fix it all. The result? Too much work to bother putting in an offer for them, so they move on to the next property. Or, they may still proceed to throw in an offer that will be low to compensate for all of those little things.
5. Clean - There is just no such thing as too clean. Wipe your walls, door frames, windows, and power wash the outside. Floors should be gleaming; get those cobwebs from the ceiling fan!
6. Make your home ageless - keep it neutral. You may love the lemon yellow walls or a different colour in every single room, but while its only paint, a potential buyer will not see past it. It’s a relatively cheap fix… neutralize.
7. Avoid controversy - not all potential buyers will appreciate your deer head on the wall. Be aware of the books and magazines that you have displayed.
8. Walk a mile in my shoes - picture yourself as the buyer. Try to view your home through their eyes. Now change or fix anything that you notice would be an issue for you if you were the buyer.
