Even though someone might only do it a few times in their life, selling your home is an art that every homeowner must understand before listing it for sale. In some markets, it’s less important that your house be perfect. In a balanced market, or buyers market, you’ll have to take more effort to show why YOUR home is contract-worthy. You don’t have to go it alone, either. Enlisting the help of a stager, listing agent (or someone like me that does both!) can help you sell your house quickly and enhance the value of your house.

If you’re selling your home because you’re facing foreclosure, or need to short sale, these tips may not matter as much. If you’re looking for a quick sale, you’ll most likely be selling in as-is condition. If you’re able to take more time to try to get top market value, these tips for selling your home will be helpful.

Home selling tips for quick sale

Selling your Home: Important Tips to Present Your House for Sale

• Consider painting your walls: If there is something that can make a significant difference in your house, then it has to be the paint. It is best to analyze your walls and get rid of any scuffs or wear marks. Color is another important factor that influences the appeal of your house. Choose a neutral color for your walls and avoid any theme paints for staging your house. Although your decorative accent walls may appeal to your taste, you really want to cast a wide net that will appeal to as many people as possible. Think neutral and tasteful!
• Remove the clutter: Every stager and listing agent would suggest organizing your house and keeping the furniture or similar accessories to a minimum. A house with large available space is much more attractive that the one stuffed with your furniture from wall to wall. Minimize the amount of “stuff” that is in the home to allow buyers to imagine their own furniture, or get a sense of where furniture would go. The goal is to make your home look spacious.
• Remove personal stuff: A buyer should be able to picture his family living your house. Although you don’t need to remove every last item that shows you love your family and friends, keeping it to a minimum is ideal. Place some scenic pictures, mirrors, and staging items instead in your house for the best impact.
• Cleaning is critical: There are so many places that one might miss during the cleaning process. Some of the most important places to clean include staircase, handrail, cabinet openers, and door handles. It might take some extra efforts getting rid of the grease and making them looks fresh again. If you have to spend $200-$300 for a “deep clean”, it could make you thousands of dollars more! This is your first line of defense in attracting a solid buyer, so make sure it’s complete before showing the home.
• Take care of the small issues: You can sell your house quickly if it is in a move-in condition. Most of the homeowners miss out small issues including jamming cabinets, fixing sink stopper, and rough door openings. All of these issues can have a negative impact on your buyer. By taking care of smaller problems, you are reflecting a positive image as the current homeowner; small things make a difference.
• Keeping the house clean: The complete cleaning and rejuvenating of your house is exhaustive in itself. However, you’ll still need to pay extra effort to keep your house stay clean. An average house may be on the market for a few weeks-months, and take a month to close. Regardless, your home is a product now, so keep it tip-top until you close.
• Have ample time for staging preparation: Selling and staging your house for sale is a big project. You should have sufficient time to complete all the necessary projects, which may also include sprucing up landscaping, decluttering, painting, etc. Start at least 2 weeks ahead before you list the house to give yourself enough time (without stressing too much!) about getting everything done before the listing goes active.

If you’re unsure what your home would need, how to “stage” or prep it to optimize the layout, we can help! We specialize in working with Sellers, and in a changing market, you need to make sure your house is showcased in the best light, from Day 1! Call us for more info

Selling your house will take some considerable amount of efforts and you should be ready to invest some time and energy into it. Following these tips along with an appropriate listing price will help you attract and keep your homes perfect buyer.