No matter how strong your local real estate market may be (the median listing price for a home in Frisco, CO, is $859,000), you still want to make your house more desirable than the competition. And this doesn’t necessarily require major renovations. Many professional tips for optimizing your home for sale are simple and focus on cleaning and decluttering. Here are some of the easiest ways to make sure your house sells and attracts the best offers possible.
Outdoors
If your home looks good from the outside, buyers will want to see the inside. There are some inexpensive changes you can make to the outside area of your home. From cleaning siding to landscaping, keeping the walk and drive shoveled in the winter, a crisp and clean exterior provides curb appeal. Buyer-attracting projects include:
Landscape cleanup
Remove lawn debris, such as sticks and leaves, and go the extra step to give bushes, trees, and plants a serious trimming. Add a one-inch layer of dark mulch to finish the clean look. These are all cheap jobs requiring little investment other than some sweat and the modest cost of mulch.
Front-door pizzaz
Another inexpensive way to sharpen a home’s exterior is to redo the front door. A coat of paint and possibly some new hardware is all it takes to make an entranceway noticeable.
Outdoor lighting upgrade
Replace your post lamp and any outdoor fixtures with newer ones that complement your home’s design. If you add efficient LED bulbs, you can tell potential buyers that they will save on energy costs and won’t have to replace the bulbs for a decade or so.
Maintain exterior siding
Siding can get dull, weather worn and dirty looking every year. Keep up on stone and siding maintenance to keep it looking new and prevent deterioration.
Indoors
Take advantage of the goodwill your curb appeal brought you by making your home’s interior squeaky clean and clutter free. Whether it is during a showing of your home to a prospective buyer or during an open house, you only have one chance to make a first impression. No one wants to see a lived-in home. Buyers want a blank slate where they can imagine themselves living. Take this opportunity to declutter your life and depersonalize your home. Remove as many personal possessions as you possibly can. Organize your closets and storage spaces and feel free to use them because this will showcase the utility of these spaces.
Most homes can benefit from a fresh coat of interior paint. Choose a neutral color because studies have shown that buyers are most attracted to a color that is somewhere between gray and beige.
Staging Your Home
For the ultimate in presentation, consider the benefits of staging your home, especially for open houses. Staging is the process of extreme depersonalization―to the extent that in some cases, the process involves removing all of your furniture and replacing with rented furniture and showroom pieces. Staging services can be expensive but are quite effective as a sales tool. You can forego the expense by mimicking their work on your own. After decluttering and cleaning, stage each room by limiting furniture to a few key pieces that put the focus on the room dimensions rather than its furnishings.
Most importantly, no matter what you do, keep your home as clean as possible. Don’t forget about dust-collecting spots, like baseboards and stairs. Buyers will notice if they are dirty. A quick tip is to rub baseboards with a dryer sheet after cleaning, which will make them dust repellant.
Preparing a home for sale means simplifying and cleaning. Buyers then have a clear picture of the house and are more likely to embrace it as their own.
Wilson is an interior designer with more than 20 years experience. What started as a hobby (and often, a favor to friends) turned into a passion for creating soothing spaces in homes of every size and style. While her goal always includes making homes look beautiful, her true focus is on fashioning them into serene, stress-free environments that inspire tranquility in all who enter. The Ultimate Guide to Prepping Your Home for an Open House is filled with tips, tricks and other advice based on Suzie’s years of experience in interior home design that will set you up for success.
