You’ve heard this before and it hasn’t changed. First impressions matter.
From the moment a buyer drives up to the front of your house to when they walk up to the door and enter into your home, all those first impressions start creating an inner dialogue of thoughts and emotions on if they like your home and if they can see themselves living in your home.
TIPS TO CREATE GREAT FIRST IMPRESSIONS
EXTERIOR IMPRESSIONS
When the buyer pulls up to your home they are looking at the exterior of your home and your yard.
Does your home need a fresh coat of paint or can you pressure wash it and give it a like new appearance?
Is your driveway cracked, weeds growing in the cracks, moss growing on the driveway and sidewalks? Pull the weeds, fix the cracks and hire someone to pressure wash your driveway, sidewalk, walk way and any patio, deck areas around your house.
When the buyer walks up your sidewalk and to your front door what are they experiencing. What do they see, hear, smell, touch?
Trim back bushes, weed flower beds, plant flowers in the flowerbeds or in pots, lay a fresh layer of bark dust. Be sure that you sweep the sidewalks and entry before a showing.
KNOCK down all the spiderwebs in your entry way! Yes I have showed many houses where the entry is dirty and full of spiderwebs!
Put a fresh pot of flowers in the entry if there is room. A fresh welcome mat is always nice and maybe hang something on the door. Make the entrance to your home inviting and pleasant. Get them excited and already imagining themselves living in this home.
INTERIOR IMPRESSIONS
They have made it to your door and when they open the door to your home what will greet them?
The very first thing that they will notice is how does the house smell? Smell is a huge sensory factor and it is important that your house not offend the buyers nose. I have walked into homes, with my buyers, that have smelt so bad that they didn’t even want to look at the home and we turned around and walked back out.
You don’t want your house to smell like bleach or like you are masking odors. So the first step is to do a deep cleaning of the home. Clean pet beds, have your carpets shampooed and deodorized.
The use of deodorizers is helpful as long as it is not over powering. Frebreze works nicely. A couple of plugins that have a warm smell such as vanilla or cookie dough smells are pleasing to the senses. You can also get a Scentsy and put your favorite smell into it before you leave the house. I like using an essential oils diffuser for a light natural smell.
The second thing they will notice is your entry way. Is it cluttered or is everything neatly in place Is there a nice visual focus, such as a picture, mirror or bench to sit on to take shoes on and off? If this is where you usually keep all your shoes, coats and bags please clean it up and put them someplace else. It may be a hassle but one that will get your house sold quicker and for more money. It is well worth the effort and bother.
CLUTTER BUSTER
Less is best! Your home should be free of all unessentials. Remember you are selling your home and will be moving soon. This is the perfect opportunity to start packing.
If you have small rooms start eliminating as much as you can to help the buyer see the potential of the room. A small room should have a bed, a night stand and a dresser. The furniture should not be oversized for the room.
Clear off all flat surfaces! Start packing up all your books, pictures and knick-knacks. Leave only a couple of matching, pleasing to the eye, decor on your flat surfaces.
If your walls are full of pictures and other wall hangings pick a few matching key focal areas to feature and pack the rest away. Pack up all the pictures of your family.
You want the buyers to be able to imagine their furniture and decorations in the home and to imagine their family living in the house.
KITCHEN AND BATHROOM
These are two of the most important areas to pay attention to. Take time to deep clean and declutter these areas.
Kitchen
The kitchen is one of the areas to spend some time making sure you present it at it’s very best. Especially if it is small and lacks counter and storage space.
Grab another packing box and start packing up all items you won’t need on a day to day basis. Wipe down all the cupboards, baseboards, clean out the refrigerator, clean the oven and stove top and organize your pantry/cupboard areas.
Clear the counter tops off. Keeping the counters free of clutter includes the toaster and blender and anything else that is on your counters. Less is always better.
Bathroom
Clean the bathrooms! From the top of the ceiling to the base of the toilet. Clean the bathrooms. I can’t stress this enough. Wipe down all surfaces; walls, ceilings, floors, moldings and counters.
Clear off the counters completely of all daily routine bathroom items. You can have a basket that you keep them in while your house is for sale and put everything in the basket for easy use and removal. Put one or two focal decorations on the counter; nice soap dispenser, appropriate knick-knack or plant works well. Hang fresh matching towels. If you have a focal wall you can hang a picture. Make sure the tub/shower is clean; shower curtain or glass inclosure is clean and all day to day products that you normally keep in the tub/shower have been removed.
Clean out the drawers and cupboards. Pack up anything that isn’t essential. Get all that hair that is in the drawers wiped out. Add a nice smelling plugin or essential oils diffuser in the bathroom as an added touch.
FINAL TIPS
Consider painting your walls a neutral color if you have bright bold colors. While it may be your favorite color it may not show well to buyers.
If you have outdated drapes consider removing them all together or replacing them with simple drapes that add some color without creating too much of a statement.
Styles come and go and right now oak is out of style. White seems to never get old. So if you are having trouble selling your house, and can afford it, you may want to consider having your cabinets painted.
This may seem like a lot of work and depending on the condition of your home it could take some time to get your home ready to sell. But having sold many homes to my clients and having had to sell many homes of my own, I can say that it is worth the extra effort.
These steps will help you sell your home for more and also quicker. The quicker is a huge plus for me. I hated having to keep my home in perfect showing condition at all times for buyers. The quicker my home sold the less stress it was for me.
CONSIDER GETTING HELP
You may want to consider having a professional cleaning company come in and do the deep clean. Have them get all the walls, baseboards, lights cleaned. Have them deep clean your kitchen and bathrooms. That would take a lot of pressure off you and allow you to do the decluttering and packing.
You could also hire a local, trusted Landscaping company to spruce up your yard and hire out the pressure washing of your house, decks, walkways and patios.
Consider hiring a local home stager to come in and help you stage your home. Statics are high claiming that a well staged home sales for a higher price and quicker. You can find a stager who will work with you and your furniture to keep the cost down.
Your home is one of the biggest investments you have and you want to get the best return on you investment as possible.
If you would like a personal visit from me to walk through and give you advice on some of the key things that I think would help you sell your home for more money and quicker please reach out to me today!
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