Sell Your Home, Even in Winter
Selling your home is an exciting time, but it doesn’t have to be stressful! There are easy and free ways to make sure that your home is appealing to both buyers and agents alike. Follow these “3 D’s” to get your home sold fast!
De-Personalize
Why? When buyers enter your home and see your personal effects, they have a difficult time visualizing themselves living there. A clean, neutral space will serve as a blank canvas for buyers!
For example: Early in my career, I was showing homes on the upper east side of Salt Lake. The home showings were going well and I was having a great time with my clients. We were on the last showing and I thought this home was perfect for my clients. It had the right bedroom count, bathroom count, great lot, fenced-in yard, and so many more options. We walked in and one of my clients veered off to go upstairs to check out the master bedroom. I thought nothing of it, she has shown herself 12 homes before this one. Suddenly, she shrieks! I run up as she is gasping and laughing. We are all stunned by the graphic wall art and giant statue. It was not distasteful or disgusting, but it was art that my clients hated. Had the sellers de-personalized the home, this would have been an easy sell.
To de-personalize, sellers should take down or move anything that stands out – such as animal heads, family pictures, crazy artwork, and stylized wall colors.
De-Clutter
This is a very simple but overlooked task in many homes. Removing a ton of clutter can be the essential thing to sell a home. This can make a home feel much larger and more inviting. My experience has been that removing large furniture and large tables can open the space. Some agents may argue that “the furniture helps clients see the potential of a room.” This is simply not the case. My clients have always been able to imagine their furniture in a home. I’ve shown homes where there were just tiny pathways to walk because the furniture was so big. Those homes stayed on the market.
The easiest way to de-clutter is to walk through and try to move half of your furniture to the garage. No one focuses on the garage in a way they would a master bedroom, so instead of using a storage service, use the garage.
Deep Clean
If your home is dirty, your home won’t sell. I have had many home showings that I thought would be a winner with my clients, but when we walk in and it smells disgusting, we walk right back out.
My constant plea with my sellers is to do a deep clean – every nook and cranny should be clean. The home doesn’t have to be in new condition, it just needs to look (and smell) clean.
Once, I was showing my client townhouses and we arrived at his favorite listing. It had everything he wanted. We entered and it smelled like 20 cats lived there. We didn’t make it past the entryway.
To deep clean, put some elbow grease and labor into your home. This will dramatically increase your home value. If you don’t want to do the labor, pay a cleaning company to do it for you.
Focus on the FREE things you CAN do!
Applying these three steps will increase your bottom line by a substantial amount. The biggest bang for your buck can come from these because they’re free! I recommend having a plan before you try and tackle all three because you can eliminate a room at a time until your home is finished. Prepare to be surprised at how much more attractive your home is to you and home buyers!
by TJ McClelland
