How to Prepare Your Home for Sale…Repair, Replace, Refresh (Part 3)

How to Prepare Your Home for Sale…Repair, Replace, Refresh (Part 3)

This post is the Third in a series of 7 on How to Prepare Your Home for Sale. 

Now that you’re committed to selling your house, it’s time to take action to ensure that buyers will see all of the possibilities it has to offer. 

REPAIR, REPLACE, REFRESH!

REPAIR

Now is the time to address all of those items you’ve put off repairing…the broken gutter or things that don’t work. Deferred repairs become distractions to potential buyers. 

They’re easy to overlook as we go through our daily lives.  However, your buyers will see them as an indication of how well the house has been maintained.

The calculator in their head will also tally up how much these repairs will cost them and when they do, 

REPLACE

If your carpet or other flooring is worn, replace it!  The days of thinking that the Buyer will want to pick out what they want are gone.  

Other areas to consider…

~Paint: one of the best investments you can make, especially if your colors are too taste-specific

~Appliances: One of the best ways to update a kitchen is with new appliances. 

~Light Fixtures and Hardware: Take a good look at your fixtures if you haven’t updated them in 10 years!

REFRESH

Refresh means clean.  Ask any agent and the one item they can all agree on is that nothing turns a buyer off more than a house that has an odor and is dirty,

Buyers and agents can overlook an odd-shaped room or a home that is still living in the last century, but a dirty home will turn off buyers looking for a house they can call home.

In Florida, we had a term called condo clean. It meant that cleaners cleaned surfaces and anything that didn’t have to be moved. 

Selling your house means a lot more than a condo clean. 

Clean means under, around, over, up, and inside.  

Closets: This is not the time to shove things in so they will be out of sight. Arrange your clothes neatly and try to have as little on the floor as you can. 

If you have shelves arrange your purses and shoes as if on display in a retail store. 

Cabinets: The same goes for your cabinets (and yes, buyers will open them). Edit the excess, and turn labels to the front. 

If it’s your linen closet, neatly fold your towels, again, as you would see them in a retail store. 

Drawers: take out trays or dividers and clean the drawer! Don’t forget the infamous Junk Drawer! 

Oven and Other Appliances: Clean inside them too!!!  Don’t forget your garbage disposal. 

Outside: Pressure-clean your sidewalks, driveway, and patio. Trim bushes and trees, and replace dead plants. Finish with fresh mulch!

Ceiling Fans and Light Fixtures: Buyers and agents spend time at your front door retrieving the key and opening the door. Your dirty light fixture or cobwebs will stand out!! 

Air: Yes, your air needs cleaning. Cleaning carpets, window coverings and upholstered furniture is a good start!!!  Get fresh air in if you can!

Windows: Make them sparkle. Remove the screens to let in more light!

Preparing your house for sale is a way of
protecting your investment.