If you’re planning to sell your home, it’s important that potential buyers see it looking its very best. First impressions are important, and that includes marketing your home—especially in a market where buyers often view a home just once before deciding whether to make an offer.
If hiring a professional stager is not in your budget, there are things you can do yourself. Here are tips that will have your home showing at its best:
Clean and repair. This seems like obvious advice, but surprisingly, it’s a step that’s often ignored. Small issues, like a broken light switch cover or missing cabinet knob, may seem so insignificant you can not imagine them impacting a potential buyer’s decision on whether to make an offer. But when a buyer sees that you haven’t kept up on even the small things, they are going to assume that more important maintenance items have also fallen through the cracks.
Boost curb appeal. Your home’s exterior is the first thing buyers see. It’s difficult to recover from a bad first impression. Before your home goes on the market, spruce up its exterior by clearing away any debris on the driveway, sidewalk, steps and front porch. Apply fresh mulch and replace dead or dying plants. Overgrown trees and bushes should be trimmed and the lawn mowed. Clean debris away from the front door and give it a fresh coat of paint.
Depersonalize living spaces. You want potential buyers to see themselves living in your home. That’s made more difficult if there are family photos, vacation artifacts and collectibles at every turn. Pack these items up and replace photos with tasteful art. Be sure your owner’s suite is gender-neutral by doing away with overly feminine or masculine décor.
Showcase your kitchen. It’s often said that a kitchen sells a home. While that may not be true in every case, the kitchen has increasingly become a gathering place, which has only served to boost its significance. To make your kitchen’s best features stand out, remove all clutter from countertops and tables. Remove fridge magnets and sticky notes from the refrigerator doors. Be sure your cabinet interiors aren’t cluttered and overloaded, so they appear more roomy if a potential buyer takes a peek.