When our clients decide to purchase a new home to remodel or build a new home from the ground up, they are faced with selling their current property. As you know, a picture is worth a thousand words, and photos in a real estate listing can sell a home even before the first open house. Put yourself in the shoes and eyes of the potential home buyer and help them to picture themselves living in their new home. Yours!
Here are our top 14 tips for getting your home ready to sell.
Put on a Fresh Face
- Paint your home interior and/or cabinets a new color – stay with neutral and light colors. While you’re at it, remove dated wallpaper and borders.
- Update cabinet hardware and bathroom accessories (such as towel bars, toilet paper holders, etc.)
- Replace mirrors in the bathroom with decorative framed mirrors
- Add a pop of color with pillows or rugs to the living room or bedrooms
- Update lighting fixtures – you don’t have to spend much to make your home feel current and on-trend
Start Packing and Purging
- Clear the clutter, pack away family photos, cut closet contents by half
- Stage the bathrooms with fresh towels, pleasant smelling soaps, and don’t forget to hide your personal toiletries in a drawer, contain laundry in closed hampers, and pick up “stuff” off the floors each morning if you expect buyers to view your home while you are away.
Get Caught up on Maintenance
- Deep clean surfaces, wash windows, sweep porches, remove dust and cobwebs, get carpets professionally cleaned, and replace cracked or mildewed grout and caulk in bathrooms
- Service your air conditioning unit and other systems that may need attention
Make Your Home “Move-In Ready”
Whether we like it or not, home buyers, especially first-time home buyers, respond to a home that doesn’t need updating. If your Realtor advises you to spend the money to upgrade finishes, here’s where to start:
- Hardwood floors – Get rid of the carpet and look at different wood flooring options.
- Stone Countertops –It is almost unacceptable these days not to have upgraded to stone countertops, at least in the eyes of a new home buyer. There are lots of options, including granite, quartz, marble, and solid surface materials. Choose a color and texture that is in the white, cream, taupe, or gray range, depending on the style of your home.
- Luxury Bathrooms – Think about what you’d expect to see in a spa, resort, or luxury hotel – new tile, new vanity with good storage, and good lighting. Keep colors calm and neutral, and use larger tiles (fewer grout joints mean less cleaning). Instead of adding expensive mosaic borders, opt for a single row of the same tile, but in a contrasting color.
- Energy Efficient Windows – Single pane glass and old aluminum frames do not meet the current energy code requirements and can reduce the value of your home.
- Let go of the 1980’s and beyond. Get rid of popcorn ceiling texture, boxed fluorescent light fixtures, saloon-style swinging doors, cabinetry that has seen better days… you get the idea.
When you are ready to tackle this list, give us a call. We can guide you in deciding which projects to pursue and in selecting the right finishes to create an attractive and “SOLD sign-worthy” home.
If you want some more ideas for improving your home environment, hpd architecture + interiors can help.
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Laura Davis is a registered architect and interior designer in the state of Texas and Colorado, and a founding member of hpd architecture + interiors. Laura's extensive experience includes residential as well as commercial and retail projects. She also has a particular interest in restoration, holding a certificate in Historic Preservation. She is energized by the character of older homes and the stories of those who have lived there. Responding to the needs of the current owner, while also honoring the personality of the original home is a delicate process to be enjoyed.
It really is so important to pack and/or purge when getting ready to sell your home! We sold our home of 14 years a little while ago. Our realtor asked us to only keep the essentials, but to put everything else away. She asked that we eliminate anything that “personalized” our home, and had us paint it neutral colors. To our surprise, our home sold within weeks!