Community Chat

[funinthesun]

I know I need to declutter. Probably move some furniture into storage. What other things should I do to make it look good? How picky are people going to be? I have never sold a home before.

[Lynneuk]

Clean, clean, clean! Can't tell you how many houses we have looked at that were dirty. A real turn off and kills the sale right then and there. Definitely declutter, it makes the closets look tidy and spacious.

[terrier3]

I would get a real estate agent with a great reputation who sells a LOT of homes in your neighborhood and take his/her advice.

I think a lot of what they say is hooey though.

We hired a woman with a great reputation, but she mostly sold homes in the suburbs and my mom's home was in the city. She told us to repaint everything...my mom had a bright yellow bathroom and kitchen. It took us 3 coats to cover and didn't do one thing. She had an open house...I baked a pie, we cleaned up everything - NO ONE showed up. Not one family.

Most of her clients were looking for suburban houses, so she had few to no buyers looking for our area!

After her contract was up, we switched to someone who specialized in that area...the home was sold in 3 days at asking price.

[MickD]

Listen to your real estate agent. De-clutter, clean, put away family pics, add fresh flowers one or two places, etc.

[MaRina]

Definitely natural lighting, sounds like your on the right track with decluttering and removing furniture. Burn some candles or bake some cookies....... Best of luck!

[CANDLEQUEEN]

Declutter, clean and de-personalize your home, meaning put away family photos, and knick knacks. Clean off your refrigerator if you have photos and things on there as well. When we were house hunting last year, I was so turned off by messy homes that had too many photos and knick knacks all over. Also be sure your closets are cleaned out and organized as well. Be sure to burn some candles prior to showings/ and or Open Houses to have a nice fresh scent, or even Febreeeze your rooms prior to an Open House or Showing...Another big turn off is dirty pet areas, if you own a pet......Right before your showing-look around as if it were you viewing your home for the 1st time and tweak anything that doesn't look right.......Most people make up their minds if they are interested or not in the 1st 15 seconds upon entering the home.....Good Luck!!!!!!

[AnikaBrodie]

Stage your home. It pays. Make your décor minimal and remove personal photos, etc. As you already said declutter your space.

[AnikaBrodie]

Here is a staged kitchen. Wow, what a difference.

[funinthesun]

thanks for the tips everyone

[game-on]

fun.... if you are going to repaint something....keep the color neutral.... ivory or beige is good... it looks so clean.... if you have throw rugs, be sure those are clean.... or replace them with neutral colored ones.... (you can take them with you when you move)....

candles have flavors....like apple pie etc.... so you can burn them and it smells like you have just baked a wonderful pie....

If you haven't already bought a new home I would rent a storage unit.... you can get ones like Pods that will be brought to your home... and you can remove so much from your home and closets....including furniture.... the less you have in your home, the roomier it feels....

Hire a cleaning service if you cant get it all clean.... then keep it clean while you are showing it....

The mind set you need to have as soon as you put this home on the market is that this is NOT your home anymore..... detach yourself from it.... pretend it is a rental and you are keeping it clean until you move.... you are just renting....

I wish you the best.... moving isn't easy.... but it is worth it in the end.