Top 10 things you can do help you sell your home.

1. Make a great First Impression!  Make sure your home is remembered!  Home buying is an motional purchase, buyers decide in the first 30 seconds if this is a home they are interested in.  The emotions they feel will determine whether your home makes them feel as though they could live there.  The front entrance should be warm and welcoming. Does your home look great from the street?  Your home hould be one the buyers want to go in as soon as they see it from the street, and want to see the rest of when they enter.

2. Clean, Clean, Clean!  This is something most sellers overlook but the buyer will not.  Cleaning is a much bigger job than most people think, buyers will look at the kitchen and bathroom with a critical eye, if the grout around the sink or the bathtub needs to be re-caulked; do it!  If  buyers think they will have to clean and fix things they will offer less money for the home.  For some buyers seeing a home that needs to be clean will turn them off completely.  If your home is clean then it looks as though it has been taken care of and loved.  This will be the feeling or emotion that you want the buyer to feel.  Get help; enlist a friend to be objective about the little things.  

3. Declutter!  Since you are already planning to move, START PACKING!  Get all personal items that you do not need or use packed and stored.  All personal photographs and children's art should be packed away ready for your new home.  You want the buyer to see themselves in your home; they can't do that if all they see is you and your family.  Only the front of your clean refrigerator should be seen, no magnets or notes.  Put them up in the new home, this one is for sale!

4. Store It!  Most of us have more furniture that we need or use in our homes. Grandma's chair, or that special child rocker you are saving for the Grandchildren, pack it up and store it!  Have the kids pick out a few toys to put in a special basket, have them pack the rest up for the new house.  The more open a room is, the larger it looks.  If a room looks large it is called Square Footage which is $$$ in the Real Estate Market.  When the room is as empty as you can get it, try to get your furniture away from the walls as much as possible. Although this is not always an option, you should try moving furniture around just for appearances, not for living.

5. Let there be light!  Open the curtains let the light in.  You may like your privacy, but a buyer doesn't want to think about that when looking at a home.  They want to know that light will come in and the house is not dark.  Turn on al the lights before a showing or open house.  If the Realtor will be in the home light the candles (make sure the Realtor is aware of all the lit candles so before they leave they can extinguish them).

6.  Background!  Look at your walls, are they clean and bright?  Has it been years since you painted?  Neutral colored walls (not just white) that are clean and have an up to date color make a huge impression.   Make sure your artwork matches your decor tastefully and the scale or size is right for the room.  Don’t forget your woodwork; if painted does it look fresh and clean, if wood, does it look dusted and clean (a little lemon oil or Murphy’s Oil Soap goes a long way.

7. Set the stage! Most people only use their dining room on special occasions.  Make it look as though you use it all the time, set the table as if you were having a diner party in an hour.  Make sure you have a centerpiece, fresh flowers are an inexpensive way to make someone want to sit down and join the party.  If your home is casual, set a casual setting, if it is a formal dining room, pull out all the stops and set it with China and all the things you never get to see.  

8. Empty closets as much as possible, remove out of season clothes. Pack all items that you are not going to use in the next 3-6 months.  The kitchen cabinets should not be over looked, nor should book cases, hutches, built-ins, entertainment centers or any other storage space.  You want it to look as though there is room for the buyer’s things. Buyers will open cabinet doors to see inside make sure they see space.  If you have a lot of stuff in the attic, basement or garage now is the time to pack it up or get rid of it.

9. If you have pets, contain them.  If they are hyper, bark, jump, or could be a danger you need to take that into consideration.  Find a neighbor to help if you can't board them.  If you are having an Open House, take them with you!

10. Let's Start Selling!!!