1. Stage and declutter your home
Do all the work necessary to make your property look good, not through expensive changes but through excellent staging, your agent should be able to provide proper advice and even bring in a professional.
That means clearing out clutter.
It’s remarkable what regular home maintenance, cleanliness, and minimizing clutter in your everyday life can do for you when it comes time to sell.
Staging a home is very different from designing or decorating. It’s a tough thought, but not everyone likes your pets, hobbies, sports teams, or religion.
2. Clean it up!
If it’s dirty, it will not sell — even if it’s a great place.
In fact, surprisingly, most of the agents we spoke with focused on overall cleanliness and space in the home as the biggest factor in selling your home.
And cleanliness pays off, according to Consumer Reports: cleaning and decluttering can deliver a 3% to 5% return on investment, and this is something you can do yourself.
3. Enhance your curb appeal
First impressions sell your home. As soon as a potential buyer drives up to your house, she’s making judgments — and a yard in disarray or untrimmed bushes could cost you.
4. Pay attention to details
The details that you may believe are minor can turn out to pack a wallop for your home’s sale. That includes everything from paint touch-ups throughout the house to a full redo of public rooms.
Wash your windows, replace compact fluorescent bulbs with incandescent or halogen, and remove or minimize personal photographs.
If you have a little money to invest, upgrading to energy-efficient windows, appliances in the kitchen, and adding solar. These are always the things that bring in more money.
5. Refresh your kitchen and bath
Don’t forget the most important rooms in your home: the kitchen and bathroom. Consumer Reports estimates that you can increase your home’s value by as much as 7% by renovating these rooms.
If you don’t have renovations in your budget, some fresh paint, a low-hanging opportunity to freshen up your space and potentially lift your asking price.
Choose a neutral palette to increase the appeal to as many tastes as possible; buyers need to be able to easily visualize themselves living in the home. But don’t invest too much time or personality in things like paint and new carpeting.
The worst thing you can do is put lots of money into things like carpet, paint, and other aesthetics that a new homeowner will likely want to change.
6. Invest in good photos
When it comes to the listing, make sure your real estate agent offers great photos that show your home in its best light. First impressions can make all the difference to someone sitting at home on the computer.
And when it comes to open houses and showings, you “absent yourself” because sellers can sometimes get in the way of a sale by taking things too personally.
7. Try not to take it personally
While this tip won’t necessarily increase your home’s value, it will certainly speed up the sale.
Whatever comments are [made] about your home, they’re never intended as a personal affront. Remember, everyone has different tastes, but clean and well maintained never goes out of style.
Contact Maria Mak and her team @ www.mariamak.com for all your premium real estate services.
Photo by Maria Mak - Burnaby Realtor
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