subject: Five Helpful Hints For Selling A House [print this page] Tips for selling your house aboundTips for selling your house abound. It seems that once you announce the sale, everyone has a plethora of advice as long as their arm full of do's and don'ts. Much of this advice is contradictory, unnecessary, or simply useless. Here are the five fast rules for selling your home.
Do not make your home resemble a hotel room. There is an all too pervasive trend in realty to stage a home so severely that it appears bland and contrived. While some buyers may fawn over a neutral color pallet and rented art scattered throughout the house, there are a distinct subset of the buying public that view this as boring and sterile. Leave splashes of color throughout the house and display the most beautiful pieces of your own possessions.
Fix any small problems before you show. If your kiddie pool killed a circle of grass or the switch-plate in the kitchen is cracked, fix it first. Nothing will make a buyer more apprehensive than signs of deferred maintenance. Even if buyers bid, you can guarantee that any imperfections will show in their offer.
Resist the urge to scent your home. Real estate agents love to tell you to bake cookies before a showing. Great, until the wife of the client bolts from the property due to her deadly peanut allergy. The inside of the home should not smell whatsoever. In the bathroom, a slight scent of soap may linger, as in the laundry room. Do not allow any smoking inside the house, and avoid making odoriferous foods while cooking. Also forget the sprays and scented candles. Air out the house and avoid offending potential clients. What one person thinks is a lovely scent will trigger another person's gag reflex.
Another of the best tips for selling your house is to pare down your possessions. You're going to have to move anyway, Start early by packing up all your out of season clothing, knick-knacks, and cooking implements. By doing this, your closets and cupboards will look far more spacious, and you'll have a head start on packing. A win-win situation for both you and those viewing the house.
Finally and most importantly, be sure that you keep the house immaculately clean. Don't neglect the baseboards, the blades of your ceiling fans, all the switch plates, and the mirrors in the bathroom.
In short, a clean, uncluttered, well-maintained home will sell without the use of over-staging or scents. Allow your home to sell itself with these quick and easy tips for selling your house.
