The minute you know it’s time to sell your home, start thinking value. Which home improvements will yield the highest price and which aesthetic staging will make potential homebuyers fall in love? Value is determined when buyers weigh the work and cost they’ll have to invest after purchase against the ready-made improvements they’ll enjoy upon taking possession. Value is also found in the buyer’s ability to see themselves in your home. The following value-added pointers can be your guideline.
Downsize Personal Clutter Buyers will have a hard time picturing themselves in the house, if they only see remnants of you in your home. Take down photographs, kid’s drawings, personal taste décor, and sentimental knick knacks. This will allow the buyer to visualize a new reality, one where he pays you to take over your home. Additionally, removing your personal affects gives you time to detach and let go of your space. Make it easier to say good-bye as you hand over the keys.
Neat, Neat, Neat Buyers will open closet doors and kitchen cabinets. Don’t allow storage space to be so overcrowded that a can of beans jumps out to attack. Clear organization (yes, alphabetize that spice rack) means you take extra efforts to care and, therefore, this house has been well maintained.
Sparkling Clean Hire a professional to clean those carpets, especially if you have pets and leave no corner undusted. Again, it reflects on how you have cared for the home.
Secure Loose Trimmings and Structures Replace that broken tile in the bathroom, paint over molding chips, and plant something in that bare dirt patch. Little things can say “run-down; don’t buy.” They’re easy to fix and buyers expect them to be.
Take Out The Old This will be a “new” home to your potential buyer, so it’s helpful if items in the home are peppy. Nothing broken should be in your home. Either fix it, replace it, or remove it. Have you been meaning to buy newer curtains? This is the time to go for it. Does the refrigerator sputter everytime it kicks on? Help it retire. Buyers don’t see beauty in sentimentality, they see “beware.”
Phil Tatro
Four Seasons Property Inspections
P.O. Box 27345
Denver, CO 80227
(303) 838-5175
phil@fspiinc.com
http://www.fourseasonspropertyinspectionsinc.com/about.html
