Preparing Your Home For Selling

Preparing your home for selling can be an intimidating process.  Regardless of how long you've taken up residence, the same general principles apply when opening your home up to potential buyers.  If a sale of your property is on the horizon, do yourself a favor and start your preparations early.  Having your to-do list knocked out and leveraging yourself as a seller ready to hit the market allows you to capitalize on opportunity as soon as it presents itself. Preparing your home for selling can mean a lot of different things.  What you should or shouldn't do comes down to an equation of the price you want to receive for your home, its condition, the way the market is behaving in your community and more.  You should be working with a qualified Realtor like myself who can weigh your home against comparable properties to give you an accurate value of your home as well as the value certain upgrades will bring.  The objective is to be strategic in the improvements you invest in to increase your overall bottomline.

With that said, below I'm outlining some basic steps you should take to prepare your home regardless of the price point or neighborhood you are selling in.

Step 1: Declutter

When showing your home, the idea is to allow a buyer to survey the home and visualize it for their own lifestyle and family.  When you show your living room with baskets of toys residing in the corner, you are sending prospective buyers a message that a) there isn't enough storage to put these toys away, b) there isn't another room in this house that could work as a playroom and c) this is a home for buyers with small children.  Each item in your home tells a story for a buyer - ask yourself what the items you have chosen to leave out are saying.

Closets and cabinets should be paired down to essentials and appear organized and tidy.  The emptier they are, the more storage is perceived. Pro tip: clearing floor space and top shelves of closets has the biggest return on visual space. Matching hangers go a long way in making closets appear tidy. An easy place to start is with packing away seasonal clothes you know you won’t need for the foreseeable future.

Step 2: Depersonalize

Your home should show as a blank canvas for buyers to envision as their own. When it comes to personal items, consider whether they enhance or inhibit a buyer's ability to picture themselves in the space.  Selling your home is about creating an emotional connection between a buyer and a house.  If the space wears your unique stamp, it obstructs these essential connections from taking place.  For example, if the seller is a young, recently married couple whose walls are filled with recent wedding images, more mature buyers may be turned off thinking the home is better suited for a first-time buyer.  Remember buyers are easily distracted - we want the buyer’s eyes to go to the millwork, windows, walls and floors versus the items hanging on those surfaces.

Step 3: Cleaning

A clean house goes an incredibly long way - I would wager it the most important aspect of showing your home.  Dust, dirt, stains and odors are an immediate turn off to buyers and a red flag of what might be lurking in unseen areas of your home.  It doesn't cost you a thing to be sure your surfaces are wiped clean, your floors are dust mopped, your glass surfaces are smudge free and the garbage has been taken out.  Your home should have that freshly cleaned feel each time it's shown to a prospective buyer.

Depending on the condition, it may be worth investing in professional cleaning services for areas like carpet and tile.  Twin Cities based Zerorez offers fantastic services for eliminating stains and odors from carpet as well as removing film and discoloration from tile and grout.  For a minimal investment, you can be assured you are showing your home with maximum appeal. Could your windows use cleaning - natural light is critical to your sale! Don’t forget to check stubborn areas like under the sink cabinets, garbage pullouts, refrigerators and freezers for cleanliness!

Step 4: Furniture Placement

Most eager buyers walk through a home visualizing how they can entertain or host gatherings in the space.  At the same time, they are taking inventory of the belongings they will need to find room for in your home.  A smart furniture plan can be a great tool to highlight your home's features or distract from shortcomings.  If rooms are cluttered or furniture is over-sized, consider renting a POD or other mobile storage solution that can free up space.

The key is creating an atmosphere that eliminates guess work for your buyers.  Use furniture as a medium to draw attention to the elements that make this space special.  A Realtor like myself can help you optimize the layout of your home to capture buyer interest.

Step 5: Home Staging

When we talk about staging - we are referring to a service provided by a professional home staging company.  These professionals have a strong foundation in design and hand select furniture and accessories from their inventory to show your home at its highest potential.  Furnishings and decor are typically transitional style in neutral finishes to appeal to the greatest number of buyers.  Home stagers use their keen design eye to create cohesive spaces, allow for optimal flow and spark those essential emotional connections.  Depending on the company, staging is often rented on a monthly basis and includes an additional fee for set up and take down.

Want to read more about staging?  Check out this post with some before and after home staging magic!

There is no one-size-fits-all plan for preparing your home to sell - however, the simple steps above apply regardless of the price range you are selling in.  When considering more costly upgrades like professional home staging or renovations, be sure you have a qualified Realtor advocating for your bottomline.  Selling your home is about netting you the highest return.

If you live in the Twin Cities area and are considering selling your home, email me at sarah.schaffer@lakesmn.com or call me at (612) 723-7636.  I'd love to walk through your home with you and help make suggestions of upgrades that can directly benefit your bottomline.