How to get your Home Ready to Sell

With the spring market quickly approaching, it is time for future sellers to start thinking about getting their homes ready for sale.

The first thing to remember is when your home goes on the market, it is no longer your home.  It turns in to a "house on the market".

This is an overwhelming thought and a very intimidating process.  So often I am asked by sellers "where do we even begin?"  The best advice I can give them is to start packing.  This includes your china, kids toys that aren't being used, your summer wardrobe, worn/large furniture: any item around your home that is taking up space without a purpose.

You are moving anyway, so pack it now.  The point is to try to edit and declutter as much as possible.

In addition, I might suggest my sellers get a POD delivered.  You can fill it up with your belongings and extra furniture that we have decided should be removed.  Then the POD will go to a storage facility and stay there until it is ready to be delivered to your new home.

If a quick sale and getting the most money for your home are your top priorities with the sale of your current home, than these are important steps to follow.

After your home is edited to the "bare bones" of furniture and items that you still need/use on a daily basis, it is time to then stage it.

At this point we usually bring in a few pieces of furniture to fill in gaps along with home decor accents that will soften and welcome buyers.  The point is to try and neutralize your home...make it look like a magazine ad.  So when buyers look at the photos online they can picture themselves walking in that room and sitting on the couch as if it was theirs.

I have had some sellers need to take up to 3 months to prep their home for selling, but the reward of a quick sale at a higher price is their payback.  So in the end, it is worth it.



STAGING PITFALL TO AVOID: Sometimes sellers will tell me that they have an extra piece of furniture in the garage" or basement"..."can we use that for staging?"  My answer is typically "no".  It is important that the furniture we use has sleek lines, doesn't take up too much space, looks new and most importantly photographs well.