5 Simple Things You Can Do To Help Sell Your Home

When it comes time to sell your home you want to do everything you can to get top dollar. Of course a real estate professional can help you do just that. Here are five simple things you can do to help make that sale.

1. De-clutter. The main thing to keep in mind in all of this is that you want to help prospective buyers to imagine themselves living in your home. The more of your stuff you have lying around the more you are going to crowd your prospect’s imagination with images of you rather than them. So pick a closet or a shed (even borrow or rent one) and cram as much of your stuff in it as you can. You know what we’re talking about. The toys no one plays with anymore. Those gnomes you got at a garage sale collecting dust in the corner of your garden. The chair no one sits on. The list goes on and on.

2. Redecorate. A great way to make your home more agreeable to prospective buyers is to change some of the decorations. Rather than the photo of you with your tongue out at Disneyland, put up an airy scene of a beach or a sunset. Buyers will feel more at home, and that is what you want. Other things to do include color coordinating the rooms, and being more sparse with the knick-knacks. You want the place feeling spacious and easy on the eyes. You want them to feel like “wow I could live here” not, “this looks like a lot of stuff to clean!”

3. Revitalize that “extra” space. You know that space that you always intended to turn into an office, a sitting area, or a play room? What about that corner of the basement that never quite got the baseboards put on? Perhaps now it has been claimed as a storage area or the pet’s room. Why not take a Saturday afternoon and restore that original vision? Even if you cannot finish the job, you can restore the potential for that space by putting the baseboards on, tidying it up and putting in a chair, table and lamp, or organizing the toys to make it a play room again.

4. Spruce up “curb appeal”. It is amazing what a lawn mower does for a home. When you live in the place it is easy to skip a week of mowing or weeding because other things are crowding in on your time. But selling your home is important and the sale of your home depends on a great looking exterior. Keep the edges trim, the bark mulch tidy and weeded, and the grass short. Cut unruly branches off of trees, spray off the siding with a pressure washer, get the cobwebs off of doorframes, and even park the car down the street… anything to make it look inviting to those who are driving by or popping in for a viewing.

5. Clean. This seems like common sense but it is amazing how many people fail to give due attention to this detail. Think of it this way: If you could be paid $1000 to $5000 for an hour or two of extra cleaning, would you do it? That is exactly what might be at stake here! Dust, vaccuum, sweep. Keep the toilet and sinks clean. Wipe mirrors. Do the dishes. That could add an extra few thousand dollars onto your home’s sale price.

Above all, give the impression that people could move in immediately, because that is the feeling that can make all the difference between “for sale” and “sold”.

Los Angeles Real estate & City Information