Getting a house ready to sell is a very stressful and anxiety-ridden time. You want to make sure that your house sells quickly and for the price, you are asking for. There are a lot of moving parts that make it difficult to know if you are doing the right thing.
There are a lot of things that need to be dealt with to make sure the house is on its best foot forward to be able to sell. It takes some careful planning and putting a few things into place to have the house ready to go when the viewings begin.
In this article, we will go over several of the essential items to make sure they are taken care of before you have your first open house.
1. Get rid of pests
Getting rid of silverfish, ants, mice, and any other pests that like to roam around your house can cause some issues if they are present when you have a viewing. A potential buyer seeing these creatures is going to wonder if there is an infestation that has caused some structural problems in the house. They are worried that there are expensive to fix problems that they might be hiding and get nervous about buying the house.
Getting an exterminator to come in at least a few weeks before the first open house is a good idea to make sure that everything is well taken care of and ready to go as soon as the doors open.
You may even find a problem caused by pests like termites that would come up during an inspection and cause the offer to be reduced, so it is better to fix these issues before that happens.
2. Update the fixtures
Renovating a home before selling it can be tricky. You could spend a lot of money, and the style falls flat with potential buyers. Instead of doing that, give the appliances and fixtures a facelift.
You should go through rooms like the bathroom and see if the toilet needs to be replaced, or just change the faucet and showerhead to new, low-flow ones. These are little touches that will make a big difference.
Appliances are expensive and old ones are inefficient. Replacing them with ones that are going to lower somebody’s energy bills will be appreciated since it is one less thing they have to spend money on when they move in.
3. Give the entrance a makeover
First impressions matter, so the curb appeal for a house for sale does have a big impact. If the driveway is tired, then have it repaved. Then, make sure the front door is new and stylish as well as sturdy and safe.
Check things like the gutters to see that they aren’t looking worn out, and the paint should also look fresh. Don’t go crazy with the landscaping, so you don’t risk making changes that aren’t to everybody’s tastes, but do make sure that it is clean and tidy.
The walkway up to the front door should be inviting and make the viewer want to see more. If they are left unimpressed at this point, then they are likely to carry that impression with them into the house. That’s when people start looking for the negative aspects that will put them off buying. If they still think they’d want to buy, then they will likely make a low offer.
4. Make it neutral
People want to be able to imagine themselves in the house when they do a viewing. If it is cluttered or has a style that they are not enthusiastic about then, this makes it difficult for them to see themselves living there.
The trick is to decorate the house nicely while also injecting a little of your personality into the style. It’s ok for some personal pictures to be around contrary to popular belief. Yet, the decor needs to be neutral. If the house is painted in bright or unusual colors, give it a new paint job and go for whites or neutral colors like cappuccino.
Take your personal belongings and put them in storage to get them out of the way. Not only do they cause clutter, but it has too much of your personal fingerprint on them and can distract the buyer from truly envisioning themselves in the house.
5. Have some security
Although it is highly unlikely, there may be viewers who are not there to make an offer but to size up the house to see if there is something to steal. They might be tempted to lift something of value under your eyes during the open house. Or, they could make a plan to enter the house if they see that you are already not living there.
Make sure that everybody who comes in checks in with the realtor and leaves some form of ID.
Not only that but set up some security cameras and an alarm system that people can see is there to remove the temptation to steal. This can also add up to a positive impression on the people that are there with an eye to buy. Seeing a good security system will give them peace of mind that they are buying a house with security features.
6. Lighten it up
An open and airy house is very inviting, so make sure that there is nothing making any dark corners that look uninviting.
This means that a daytime viewing should replace any dark or heavy curtains with lighter ones that let the natural sunlight in. Curtains should be up, and nothing should be blocking the windows.
If the viewing is on a cloudy day or even in the evening, then having a lot of lights on is the way to go. If there are some areas that don’t get much light, then add a small table with a lamp there to brighten it up. Changing the lightbulbs to ones that emit natural light is also a good way to make it seem cozy.
