Getting Your House Ready To Sell

In today's market, sellers have to do more to attract buyers. Here are a few tips to get your house ready.

Of course, you can go out and spend a few thousand to pay a professional to go around and make your house appealing to as broad a group of buyers as possible. This is actually a great idea if you can afford it. They do the work, not you and they have plenty of experience knowing what works and what doesn't, and can tackle your home without bias!

However, as a recent Wall Street Journal Online article discusses, there are plenty of alternatives that you can do yourself that don't involve quite as much money, and which can also be very effective.

The first step is to rid the house of clutter. This doesn't mean making the house impersonal, just free of the year-upon-year of accumulation all houses get. Besides, if you're ready to sell, you might as well pack up some things and get them out of the way and ready to go!

The next step is to tackle the two places a person will first see your house - from the Internet and from the curb. Take some pictures of your place with careful consideration of lighting, placement of furniture and angle. These pictures can also serve as a "house potential" for home viewers to refer to when seeing your house with the inevitable day-to-day living in it. The second step is creating curb appeal. This can be as complex as new exterior painting and landscaping, or as simple as tidying the yard, adding some colorful flowers, power washing the driveway and painting over any cracks in the paint.

To create the perfect internal atmosphere, the first step, no matter how much other work you plan on doing, is to air out the house for several days beforehand. You can also refer to another House Hunt article titled "New Home Smell" for other tips to create the smell homebuyers are after!

The next steps, as with everything else, can either be complex and more expensive, such as kitchen countertop upgrades, new kitchen cabinetry, new hardwood floors, basement conversions, etc. However, there are some more simple steps you can take.

Make sure you fix anything obviously faulty, such as leaky faucets (normally you just require a new washer that costs less than a dollar!). Clean (or get professionally cleaned) all the windows, inside and out. Wash the curtains, and borrow a carpet cleaner or get a professional to clean the carpets. Make sure any pets are absent, along with any pet smells.

The final touches involve creating space by using plenty of lighting, such as table lamps, and by having interesting, yet not invasive pieces, such as nesting tables with a nice plant. This helps to soften corners and add interest to a room. Plus, something neutral, like a plant or lamp, is much better than your unique collection of pug paraphernalia that you normally so proudly display!

By following these steps, you can help push your house up from one of many potential houses, to the one that seems to fit that buyer the best, and which appears to give them the most bang for their buck!

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