Whether you have already selected your real estate broker or not, making sure your house is prepared is of utmost importance. After all, buyers will see your property on pictures and will eventually visit it. It has to be sufficiently appealing for them to like it and see themselves living in it. The elements below are not only great ways to make your property look amazing, but if executed in this order, you will also save time preparing for the sale.

1.     Repairs and Maintenance

The first thing you should do is maintain and repair. If there is leaking faucet, a light switch that isn’t switching or a door that squeaks, you have to repair it. The same obviously goes for any other plumbing or light fixtures that aren’t in working order. Double check your baseboard heaters, fans, thermostats and outlets, and if anything seems broken, hire someone to repair it.

Double check your appliance as well. A leaking fridge can create quite the scare if a customer walks into a puddle of water in the middle of the kitchen. Functioning appliances also give buyers the confidence that the owner maintains his house appropriately. Also verify that the HVAC system works and check the central vacuum, the sump pump, the air exchanger, the smoke and CO2 detectors, and your alarm system.

You should also consider repairing indoor and outdoor elements that are broken or worn. Check if your deck and stair planks are in good shape, verify that your handrails and guard rails are solid, and replace any broken windows. Broken tiles should also be looked at if the budget and time allows.

2.     Decluttering and Depersonalizing

The second thing to do when preparing your house for a sale is to significantly declutter and depersonalize. A buyer walking into your house wants to feel at his home, not yours. Remove personal pictures from walls and fridges, stores your collections and replace with generic decorations, and harmonize or neutralize the colors. A neutral house will appeal to more buyers than a particular one. Also make sure there is enough space to walk around, but without emptying the rooms too much. Any unnecessary furniture should be stored, and objects lying around should be stowed.

3.     Touch-ups and Painting

One you have decluttered, holes in walls should be either touched up or hidden with neutral art and such. It goes a little bit without saying, but some houses are shown with white patches of plaster on walls, evidently scaring away some buyers. When holes are patched or hidden, colorful walls should be repainted in a more neutral and bright color unless they have been specifically designed by an interior designer (and even then). Once again, neutral colors help buyers project themselves in the house, while bright colors expand the feeling of space, making your property feel bigger. Repaint anything that is chipped as much inside as out.

4.     Lighting

Electric lighting is such a great invention, don’t you think? But if done bad, it can really make your house look awful. The first obvious thing to do is to replace all broker bulbs. If some are flickering, get them check out by an electrician (it could indicate an underlying problem).

If all your lightbulbs are working, great, but the next thing to do is to check the color temperature. Yeah, you read correctly. Lightbulbs emit light in varying frequency, and modern manufacturers classify them in Kelvin temperature ranges. A higher color temperature will seem to be a bit bluer and much colder (5000K), while a lower color temperature will seem more yellow and warmer (2500K). Mixing warm and cold in the same room, or worst, on the same fixture, is a big turnoff. Light colors don’t need to all be the same, but at the very least should be consistent for each room.

5.     Cleanliness

Now that you’ve done the first four steps, it’s time for a deep clean. Dust everything thoroughly, vacuum and wash the floors, clean all bathrooms and kitchen, clean the windows and mirrors, and vacuum rugs and carpets. If you have pets or have odors, try to eliminate the smells with odor removers and if that doesn’t work, consider spending a bit of money for a professional clean. It is usually worth it. 

6.     Staging the Home

Once well cleaned, you can consider staging it. You can put flowerpots on tables, “nature morte” such as fruit bowls on the kitchen counter, clean and fresh towels in bathrooms and fill the rooms with enjoyable yet neutral smells. Arranging the furniture to make sure it showcases the rooms function while not cluttering it is also a great idea. The idea is to make the décor minimal, consistent, tasteful and clean. This is once again to enable buyers to project themselves living in the house.

7.     Curb Appeal

People say first impressions don’t matter. I say that’s a lie. The first thing buyers will see is the outside of your house. It has to be in a great condition. Replace broken or worn siding or brick, clean the front yard by removing weeds, trimming hedges and bushes and cutting the grass. Clean the driveway and porch and ensure the house number is visible. If your front yard has no plants, make sure it looks clean and decluttered and ensure the front door looks inviting to potential visitors.

8.     Renovations (optional)

Steps 1 to 7 are generally considered very important and are also usually not too costly but will truly make a difference. Now, if you have a property that’s terribly outdated, or rooms that are damaged or severely worn, it is usually a good idea to consider renovating. Some people believe that rooms left in their current state in exchange for a lower property price is a good idea, but most buyers will be slightly turned off by the situation. It is better to invest a small amount of money to make rooms look clean yet neutral. Should you decide to renovate, do so before step 1 as renovations will generally dirty the property and will require touch-ups and cleaning afterwards.

Takeaway

As you can tell, preparing your property for sale isn’t as simple as saying “I’m ready!”. It requires a little bit of work and some money, but the investment is worth the payoff. A clean and well-prepared property will generally sell faster and for higher amounts than the same property unprepared. By repairing problems, decluttering and depersonalizing, touching up, ensuring it’s well-lit, cleaning it thoroughly, staging and improving the curb appeal, your property will sell in no time.