Preparing your Home to Sell - Interior Tricks of the Trade

Having your house on the market is like expecting your in-laws to visit – you want everything to look perfect. In this case, you not only want someone to think your home is nice, you want them to want to live there themselves.

To make your house as appealing as possible, always do the following:

• Clear the clutter. Less clutter makes the house seem neater and larger.  If you have too much stuff, you may want to consider storing it off-site.
• Clean it up.  Keep the kitchen and bathroom scrubbed, the floors mopped, and the carpets vacuumed.  No dirty dishes in the sink and no dirty towels in a pile in the bathroom.  Consider hiring a professional cleaning service to come once a week if you don’t have time to keep the house spic and span.  It will be worth it.
• Let the light in.  Leave blinds and curtains open to let in natural light.  Also, make sure to replace any burned out light bulbs.
• Clean those closets. Many buyers are concerned about storage, especially in smaller or older homes that don’t provide much closet space.  Keeping your closets neat and uncluttered will make them look more spacious.
• Apply fresh paint.  Walls with scuff marks and holes can make a house look dingy and tired.  A coat of fresh paint in a neutral color is an inexpensive repair that can have a huge impact.
• Repair the cracks.  Cracks in tiles, walls, floors, and elsewhere might make buyers wary that the house has not been maintained.
• Replace broken windows and molding.
• Inspect and repair major systems, including electrical, plumbing, HVAC, and alarm.
• Brighten up the bathroom.  If the faucets are leaky, fix them.  Consider buying new towels to be put out only when prospective buyers are coming.
• Spice up the kitchen.  New cabinet knobs can give a kitchen a whole new look.  If countertops are damaged, consider replacing them.  Keep the countertops cleared of clutter.  Even having several appliances out can make the countertops look crowded and small.
• Follow your nose.  Make sure there are no unpleasant or strange smells anywhere in the house.  Keep the pets clean, the litter box emptied, and avoid cooking things with strong odors while your house is on the market.
• Accessorize. Pretend a camera crew from Architectural Digest is coming: set your dining room table with your best china, put out fresh flowers, put a log in the fireplace.

Although some of these are minor things, they can make a bad impression on buyers if left undone.  Your house is on display, and you want it to look its best at all times.