Getting A Home Ready To Sell

Curb appeal is big when you decide to sell your house. One of the best and cheapest things you can do is to clean up both inside and out. You want buyers to be attracted to your home not that lamp in the corner, so put away all but the minimum and keep things straightened up. Your home will show better this way. And on the outside, keeping the yard free of clutter gives a good first impression.

 

It's definitely important to keep a house and yard clutter free when trying to sell. Buyers won't be able to focus on the potential of the house to meet their own needs/tastes if they are distracted by too much stuff.

 

That's a great suggestion. Keeping things neat and tidy can also make your space look much larger. Also, I'm sure a fresh coat of paint would do wonders to freshen up a home that was being put on the market.

 

We need to get out there and clean up some clutter in the yard as I type. It's just been so cold around here. Because the clutter is in the back yard, we are more apt to overlook it. I think I'm going to make a concentrated effort to head out there and spend 30 minutes tossing and putting things away.

 

The first impression is the most important impression. What the prospective buyers will see is the outside. Keep that clean - pull weeds, plat flowers, etc. Dazzle them with the outside of the house first.

 

One thing I've found out is that if there is something that you plan to take with you that is a part of the house, you need to take it down before the house is shown. We had a beautiful Tiffany lamp in our kitchen (back when Tiffany lamps were all the rage) that had been a gift, so we wanted to keep it. But the prospective buyer wanted it too. It became a deal breaker and we had to leave it.

 

BldrsWife has a point. I had an old fireplace mantle from my grandfather's house that I put in the living room of a house we were selling. I was planning to take it out before I put the house on the market. The buyers were someone we knew who had been in our home while we lived there. They wouldn't even consider buying the house without the mantle. I still miss it.

 

I would even consider renting one of those containers to put out back and put your things you want to keep inside until you either have a new place for it or until the house sells. You'll more than recoup the cost, most likely, in time saving and increased profit on the house price.

 

Cleaning is one of those things that so many sellers overlook and it really can add thousands to your ending sales price. If your yard is overgrown and the bushes wild, buyers see themselves having to put a ton of time into yardwork. If it's neat and trim, they just see how nice it looks.