Preparing the Interior of Your Home for Sale

 

A common dilemma that prospective sellers often face is how much or little to do to make their home ‘market ready’. 

 

It is important to remember that you never get a second chance to make a good first impression. So, the day your home hits the market, it must show at its best. Here are some guidelines that hopefully will help you through the process to a successful sale.

 

Step One: Pack early....because you will be moving! I suggest moving room to room and creating three categories: items you will give away, those you will throw away, and those you can sell. Next, set about disposing of each of these categories: maybe you donate items to a local charity, post others on Craig’s list or ebay, and dump the rest.

 

Step Two: Evaluate what is left and minimize! Do you have loads of books? Family photos galore? Or a beautiful porcelain collection? I suggest you pack these early. First off, you don’t want to jeopardize the safety of your cherished possessions. People may touch….or break…your things. Remove the temptation and make it a non issue. Also, buyers must be able to mentally move into your home before they will make an offer. When you weed out your personal items, you neutralize the property so buyers can imagine themselves in the home.

 

Step Three: Make sure everything is in working order. Now that you have removed most of the clutter, you should be able to make a good visual inspection of the property. 

Is the paint cracked, peeling, dirty or discolored? Clean and/or repaint. Are all windows and storms in good repair and operating properly? Are all sash cords working? Do all doors open and close correctly and easily-including closet doors? Is all your plumbing operating correctly? There should be no leaky faucets or slow drains. I also recommend that you service your heating and air conditioning system-including changing filters. In addition, all your appliances should be in working order. If you have an element on your   stove that is slow or broken, fix it.  

 

A general handy man should be able to tackle most of these projects. It will be money well spent. When items are in poor repair or broken, buyers assume that the property has not been maintained.   This could inhibit them from making an offer on your property. Or, they may make a very low offer, because they may guess that the situation is more serious than it is and overestimate the cost of repair. 

 

Step Four: Organize all your storage areas. Buyers do open closets, kitchen cabinets, and medicine chests. They look in basements and attics. These areas should be neat and roomy. You want the appearance of ample storage. Overcrowding of items makes even the largest storage area appear inadequate. If you still have too many items, rent a storage area off site and move your boxes there. 

 

A good Realtor should be able to guide you and connect you with service professionals to help you through this process.