Properly preparing your your home to receive potential buyers is essential if you want to sell quickly at the price you want. You do not want any unsightly distractions or apparent damage to your home if you want to engender a feeling of trust with a potential buyer.
You want a potential buyer to be busy day dreaming visualizing themselves as the owner of your home not distracted by water damage or cat hair on the carpet or an unmaintained yard.
When preparing your home for sale be objective and visualize your home through a buyer's eyes without emotion. Understand clearly what the best and worst features of your home are. A home that is clean and well maintained without damage inspires confidence and leads to a faster sale.
If you are unsure that you can be objective about your home invite some friends or relatives over and ask them to do this task for you. You will be surprised at what you learn if you go into this process with an open mind.
You want the outside of the home to be particularly well kept as a lot of buyers will do a drive by to view the home's curb appeal without even contacting you. Since you never know when this is happening you must ensure your property looks it's best at all times during the sales process. Neglecting this vital component of the home sales process can literally cost you thousands of dollars.
Consider Hiring A Home Inspector
Another option is to hire a building inspector to come and evaluate your property and point out any repairs you should perform before putting your property up for sale. Showing potential buyers that you have had a building inspection done shows that you are being transparent with them and helps instill trust.
Make sure the home inspector is licensed and when the inspection is happening make sure you are present and do ask questions. A licensed inspector will have insurance against any errors or accidental omissions from their inspection report.
clean all carpets and flooring - deep clean the carpets if you smoke, have pets or the carpet has a shabby appearance or noticeable odor
clean the kitchen and bathrooms thoroughly - make sure you keep the tub clean in the bathroom and remove any evidence of food or food preparation from the kitchen
clean up any evidence that you have pets
paint the walls a neutral color like white
make sure all the little things like heating / AC, doorbells, faucets, toilets, light switches are in working order - assume a potential buyer will inspect these items
Exterior Tips
keep the lawn mowed and maintained - try to keep it green and healthy looking
trim all of the trees, bushes and hedges
weed your flower beds and keep your flowers watered
remove any clutter from your yard
clean any furniture you have outside - make sure it doesn't look weathered or neglected
consider re tarring your driveway to make the asphalt look new - you can do this yourself
remove any rusty or non functioning vehicles from your driveway
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