Jon's Top Ten Lists
Top 10 Inexpensive Ways To Help Your Home Sell Faster!
By: Jon Patterson
Hi again everyone! I'm an experienced Real Estate Broker out of Denver, Colorado, and I've seen some great homes ruined by poor presentation, and some mediocre homes made amazing with just a touch of flair and ingenuity. I've compiled this original list from my experiences and what I've seen house hunting over the last several years.
I've confined my tips to inexpensive, everyday things you can do in your home to improve its look and feel as you prepare to sell. For specific questions, please contact me directly.
- Clutter -
- Problem: Clutter is a tremendous killer in most homes, not to mention, it can also leave you vulnerable to fraud if you're leaving your mail or personal information about the house. Clutter is usually just "stuff" - items you don't have a home for, but can't get rid of, and most people have a lot of it. Clutter can also be little used household appliances and cookware.
- Solution: This is one of the easiest - and most difficult - items to solve when selling your home. It's not too hard to really get down and pick up the clutter once - the challenge is keeping it picked up for the length of the sale. The simplest solutions amount to having or creating a place to put the clutter - often a box or a "junk" drawer, and making a once daily task of picking it up and putting in the hideaway, then going through the hideaway once a week to keep it from overflowing. It minimizes your time and energy spent, and keeps the house looking sharp! Lastly, for your extra appliances and kitchen cookware - clear out the things you rarely use and pack them away, you'll have to do it anyway when you move. Put the things you do use into the newly created cabinet or pantry space and out of plain sight.
- Plants -
- Problem: How to decorate and bring life to a house without infringing on anyone's sensibilities and taste? Tough question.
- Solution: Put a few plants in the home - if you don't have a green thumb, put fake plants in - most of them look nearly as good as the real thing. Generally, 1 or 2 plants is fine for any room needing a "little something" and even better, real plants can help improve air quality as well!
- Curb Appeal -
- Problem: First Impressions can make or break a home - spend a little time making sure they like what they see.
- Solution: Mowing the yard, watering the grass, raking the leaves. Keep your yard looking sharp! In most cases I also recommend washing the outside of the home, even with a garden hose, especially around the entrance to help get rind of cobwebs, built up dust and debris and improve the look and feel of the home. In spring and summer, a few well placed flowers can also bring a feeling of cheer and welcome to a homes exterior. Lastly - if you have a garage, park your cars in there, if not, don't park them immediately in front of the home, give the "drive-bys" something to look at!
- All The Small Things:
- Problem: Almost every buyer I work with does the same thing - they look at a small problem, guess about 5-10 times the actual cost to fix, and stick that number to what they think it will take to fix that. Then, if they see more than one item, they start to think the home has been neglected and that there will be many unforeseen issues. Small things like chipped paint or dirty carpet add up to thousands of dollars in the mind of a buyer.
- Solution: Simply fix the problem - if you have broken light switch plate, they cost under $1 at your local hardware store. Replace all the burnt out light bulbs, inside and out. Paint chipped? Paint and most hardware stores can color match, and a quart of practically any paint is well under $10 - the little things add up to a big improvement!
- Clean -
- Problem: Some people lump this in with clutter, but I find it a wholly different issue - a home can be clean and cluttered, or cluttered but clean. Dirty walls, carpet or counters give an impression of neglect and undesirability. Most people see it in their own homes as natural, it's slowly progressed over the years of living in and loving your home, and to you, it's normal, but to a fresh set of eyes, it may not look so sharp.
- Solution: Spring, Summer, Fall or Winter cleaning! Go nuts! Clean everything is site, wipe down the baseboard trim and the walls, steam clean the carpet, polish the floors, clear off the countertops and do the dishes, wash your doorknobs and cabinet faces - scrub the stove and run the dishwasher through a cleaning cycle with "Dishwasher Cleaner" - Scrub the corners of the shower and the tub.
- Bathrooms -
- Problem: A lot of people feel that if you can keep your bathroom clean, the rest of the home follows and the buyer will know you love and care for the home. That said, bathrooms are tough places to keep clean, second possibly only to the kitchen - here's a few tips.
- Solution: Take everything off the counters and find it a home, then put a few small items back, a soap dispenser, a couple candles, maybe even a small plant or decorative piece. You've already cleaned it all, now let's organize. If storage is a problem in your shower or tub, shower caddies are inexpensively available and many stores and can put your toiletries in a nice contained and organized area. Also check your caulking, often a new bead of caulk around the tub/shower and countertops can give the room clean new lines - be sure to use caulk specifically water resistant.
- Too Much "Stuff" -
- Problem: Too much "_____" - usually, the biggest problem is with too much furniture, which can make your rooms feel small, cramped or cluttered, no matter how clean they are. Other times, a particular theme or collectible can overwhelm a buyer to the point they no longer notice the home but look at your things instead, which would be great if you were selling them instead of the house.
- Solution: Talk to your Realtor, and get some advice on what to do with your "stuff." Sometimes it can be re-arranged for better effect, other times it has to be moved, either out entirely or into another room. If you've got an open basement, some of this extra "stuff" can be put down there, and sometimes a garage or storage shed can house some of these items. Worst case - donations, yard sales, or storage units can be used to remove unnecessary "stuff" from your home.
- Smoking/Odors -
- Problem: Sorry to any smokers out there, but the general public doesn't like the smell in the home, and often holds their nose or breath and hurries through the house - if they make it through the front door. On top of smoke odor, there are a variety of other unpleasant smells including a variety of pet odors, cooking odors (onions can linger for days!), Overbearing incense or air fresheners, mildew, and more.
- Solution: There are a few devices and companies that specialize in "de-scenting" a home, and some work well, others don't. Aside from that, I have a few notes. Don't go crazy with air fresheners, the trick is known and many people think it's covering up less pleasant odors and become suspicious, even if it's just there to make the house smell nice. If you want to use them - great! Just use moderation too. Clean the stove thoroughly, the auto clean features are great too! Have the carpets professionally steam cleaned - if you have a specific odor you know you want to get rid of (i.e. Pet or Smoke, etc) let the cleaners know, many carry special deodorizing treatments for specific smells.
- Pets -
- Problem: Our furry friends can create a number of nuisances in the home when selling. Aggressive dogs can scare or attack buyers, cats can cause allergic reaction, sometimes odors results from different pets simply residing in the home. Even friendly pets can sometimes put a buyer off - most people don't really liked being licked by a strange dog.
- Solution: Each Pet solution is different - for odors, carpet and upholstery cleaning can do wonders. For aggressive pets, removing them during the showing is often the best policy, sometime friends and family can help. Often times an outdoor kennel or dog run is the next best thing, but be sure to be considerate of your pets needs of space, food and water. I strongly recommend against kenneling aggressive dogs inside if at all possible.
- Be Open Minded:
- Problem: Many sellers have closed the book, or read posts like these, and think that's all there is to know. Each home has particular needs and ways in which it can be improved. I've almost never walked into a home I couldn't offer practical advice for improvement.
- Solution: Listen, read, review and get advice. An experienced Realtor can contribute a great deal to your home if you are willing to listen and take action. Personally I encourage my clients to bring their ideas to me and we can discuss pro's and con's to nearly any change or improvement to their home, and weigh whether its value carefully.
Thanks so much for reading, and I hope you enjoy my other posts as well. For more advice about staging or selling your home, feel free to contact me via phone or email anytime.
Sincerely,
Jon Patterson
