1. Maximize Curb Appeal: The old saying is true: you only get once chance to make a good first impression. Make sure that the outside of your home looks as appealing as possible. Water and mow the lawn, trim the trees, cut back overgrowth and plant colorful flowers in the front and back.
2. Clear the Clutter: Be sure to store bicycles, gardening equipment, and children's and pet's toys. Also, you'll want to move any cars from the driveway and even along the curb in front of your home.
3. Make Your Home Anonymous: Of course you're proud of your family, but now is not the time to show their pictures and mementos. You want buyers to imagine their families in the house.
4. Make Necessary Repairs: Look at your house with a critical eye. The last thing you want potential buyers to see are chipped tile in the bathroom, a faucet that doesn't work, or burned out bulbs in light fixtures.
5. Cosmetic improvements: Simple, cosmetic touch-ups like painting, wallpapering, adding new light fixtures, and minor landscaping, can really help a home show better. If you paint, make sure it's in a neutral color.
6. Spic and Span: Potential buyers will want to inspect every part of your home, from the kitchen to the bathrooms to the garage. You need to create a positive experience for them. Remove all clutter and clean the inside of the house from top to bottom.
7. Consider using a stager: There are creative professionals who can make your home shine for potential buyers. They may remove your furnishings, pictures and mementos and replace them with carefully selected items designed to make your house look like a model home. Your Realtor can help find the right professional stager for your home.
8. Offer Fact Sheets/ Brochures: Your Realtor will provide prospective homebuyers with information about your property. These will include details about the home's best features, your neighborhood and other relevant information. Photographs help prospective buyers remember your home.
10. Make Yourself Scarce: It's time for all of you to leave. If you aren't there, it's easier for your sales associate to answer questions candidly. Potential buyers feel more comfortable discussing pluses and minuses and talking about changes they might make to the property if its owner isn't around.
These tasks may seem a little overwhelming at first, but your Realtor can help with many of them - or find someone who can. In the end, the time and money you invest upfront in making your property shine will pay big dividends in getting you the best possible price for your home.
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