Quote:
Originally Posted by salpal
We sold our home 3 hours after it went on the market. Our first day on the market, we held an open house. There were two others in neighborhood also for sale (comparable). I realize we were very lucky. All the tips above are excellent and I'd like to throw in my 2 cents.
Cleanliness cannot be overstated.
Attic: We completely emptied attic and swept away all cobwebs, small bits of trash, etc. Remember, people are going to look at your attic if they are serious buyers.
Basement: We removed all of our stuff from storage shelving in basement and wiped all dust from every inch. I've posted this before, but I even polished the hot water heater and heater. Lastly, we painted the cement floor so it looked extra fresh and clean.
Garage: In our garage, we cleaned and thinned out as much as possible and painted the floor.
Photos: We removed ALL of our photos artwork and placed just a few generic/boring pieces where there just had to be something on the wall.
Dining Room: removed hutch to make room appear larger and hung 3 floating shelves on wall for "art".
Kitchen: removed everything but two items on kitchen counter top. Also removed many items from pantry and "staged" it by making it look very neat. I made sure that our cabinets were attractively arranged inside, remember, people open your cabinets and drawers in your kitchen and bathrooms. They will also open your refrigerator.
Pets: Prior to open house, we removed ALL evidence of our dog and of course, took him off premises during showing. Luckily he does not shed.
Closets: We removed more than half of our clothing and arranged clothes, shoes, etc in an attractive manner. Our home was built in the 1950's and closets were not especially large during that time. To compensate, hubby built a large cedar closet in our basement.
We saw a show liked "Designed to Sell" or one of those and I remembered one of the hostesses saying that if things are very neat and clean, the buyers will believe that their home will look like this when they move their things inside, so tiny details count.
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Salpal gave excellent advice. Three hours has to be the world record for selling a home.
I aslo watch "Sell this House" on cable tv and follow their suggestions as best I can.
1. Declutter, Declutter, Declutter
2. Depersonalize with no family photos, people want to see their stuff in their new home.
3. Cleaniless and neatness is important.
4. Make rooms appear bigger by rearranging furniture, should be able to walk around with no trouble.
5. Entrance wow factor is important.
6. Your home should have an inviting aroma.
I'm no expert but the homes on this show look like night and day after these changes are performed. I wish they come and do mine so I can move to TV.
Best Wishes on the future sale of your home.