Tips to Get Your Home Moving...
A key to selling your home is to highlight your home’s strengths and downplay home’s weaknesses. You want your home to appeal to the greatest possible pool of buyers.
Selling Tip 1 – Declutter. You have heard me say this time and time again. Less is more. The best thing you can do to improve your home is to clean, clear out and get rid of the clutter. If you do not have the storage space, rent a storage unit. For $100 a month you can rent a small secure unit where you can store all your extra items. In St. Marys there are mini storage units on James Street South. Call Al Strathadee at St. Marys Mini Storage 519-284-9999. If you have to keep items in your home, Canadian Tire has long shallow plastic containers that can easily slip under a bed for storage. These can hold anything from household supplies to children’s toys.
Selling Tip 2 - Make a Great 1st Impression. When buyers first pull up in front of a home for sale, they make up their minds in SECONDS whether to get out of their vehicle or drive on. A manicured front yard with staging additions like flowers in colorful pots near the front door and a bench to sit makes buyers want to see what's inside. Entice your buyers to come in, not drive on. Home buyers will know instantly whether they like your home or not. You have to captivate the buyers from the minute they walk through the front door. You want to entice them to take a good look at your home, not a rushed one.
Selling Tip 3 - Sell your Kitchen. Kitchens rank paramount on home shoppers list of requirements, so spend extra time staging the space. Remove all appliances on the counter and dress the space with flowers and bowls of fruit. Buyers pay a premium for kitchens that are ready to move in and not ready to work on.
Selling Tip 4 – Make minor repairs. Replace cracked floor or counter tiles, patch holes in walls, fix leaky faucets, fix doors that don't close properly and kitchen drawers that jam. Consider painting your walls neutral colors, especially if you have grown accustomed to purple or pink walls. (Don't give buyers any reason to remember your home as "the house with the orange bathroom.") Replace burned-out light bulbs. If you've considered replacing a worn bedspread, do so now!
When selling your home you need to disassociate yourself with your home. You need to think of your home as a product that needs to be sold. Go through your home and de-personalize it. You want to make sure buyers are looking at your home features and not the family pictures above the mantel.
If this is all overwhelming to you, many sellers opt to hire a home stager. There are advantages to having your home staged professionally. 1. Home Sells in Less Time. Surveys on the effects of home staging show Staged homes can sell 30 to 50 percent faster. Last year, The National Association of Realtors found that staged homes sold in 13.9 days as opposed to 31 for non-staged homes. 2. Homes Sell for More Money. Homes that sit on the market usually get lower offers because home shoppers think that there's something wrong with the house and that the desperate home seller is an easy mark for a low offer. Research proves that staged homes sell for more. Statistics have indicated that Staged homes sold for an average of 6.9 to 10% over listing price.
If you do decide to have your home staged, hire a professional. Your realtor can give you tips however cannot give your house that ‘extra’ that a professional stager can. St. Marys Stagers – Homestaging Plus.