Preparing Your Home For Sale

In today's real estate market we are seeing a major trend toward "Home Staging." While this is a terrific way to set your home apart from other homes, I realize that many sellers do not have the funds necessary to pay for a professional. Below I offer some simple steps to make that can help improve the saleability of your home.

Why should you be concerned - well the longer a house is on the market, the less likely the seller is to receive a high offer. It's human nature to suspect the quality of something that has been on the shelf for a long time. A slow-selling house makes prospective buyers nervous.

Let's eliminate some of the buyer's hestitancy.

1) Put yourself in the buyer's shoes!
When buyers arrive at your front door they are hoping to fall in love with your property and make it their home. If you've prepared correctly, every room in your home will greet them with a pleasant surprise. I have a Repair & Cleaning Checklist you can download to assist with the room-by-room improvements.

2) Accentuate the Positive
A real estate agent will bring prospective buyers to your door, but don't rely on them to do the entire job of selling your home. In a highly saleable home, each room sends out a unique message to the customer. It is more effective to have the buyer's discover your home's special feature themselves than to have an agent point them out like a tour guide.

3) Eliminate the Negative
You can eliminate many of your home's negative features by transforming them into something visually pleasant. Inexpensive and creative disguises will minimize those drawbacks. Remember, no home is perfect, not even yours.

4) Depersonalize
The family photos on the walls, the children's artwork on the refridgerator, the nic-nacs on the shelves, and any other personal affects that are sitting around. Yes, it is currently "YOUR" Home - but the idea is to sell it to someone else - let them imagine it being THEIR home! With all you personal items around it makes it difficult for the propective buyer to see themselves living there without feeling like they have invaded your space!

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If you are considering making a move, I can provide a FREE Comparative Market Analysis (CMA), I will research and prepare one based on properties which have recently sold in your area.
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My FREE Home Search Wizard will automatically e-mail you daily any listings that meet your search criteria.
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Please visit my Maryland Real Estate website if you would like further information.

Sincerely,

Phill Cross, e-PRO, REALTOR®
RE/MAX 1st Advantage

(410) 882-6000 Office
(443) 677-7114 Cell

http://www.md-re.com/

Serving Buyers & Sellers in the
Greater Baltimore Metropolitan Area