Getting Your Home Sell Worthy

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Jason and I are closing on our house this month and it has had me thinking about the presentation of homes a lot lately. We are currently seeing a shift in the downloadmarket which is causing more people to list their homes. There are multiple offers on listings which got me thinking about what sets one listing apart from another. What makes a family purchase one home over a comparable one in the same neighborhood? As surprisingly simple as the answer is, those who take the time to do small, simple things to increase the show appeal of their homes, are the ones successfully selling. In getting a home ready for sell, these few things will help increase the showing value on your home:

1.     Curb appeal: As buyers are driving up to view a home or attend an open house, the first thing that they see is the front yard and exterior of the home. I have had clients refuse to see a house because the outside was so terribly run down and not maintained. If the yard work has taken a back seat for some time, this is the time to run to a local home store and get low maintenance, neutral plants. A few simple low bushes and some light plantings may be just what a yard needs to show a cleaned up look. All lawns should be clean, edged and cut as well.

2.     Exterior:  Gutters, lights, etc. should not be loose or in bad condition. The exterior of the house should be clean. If not, renting a pressure washer or having the exterior professionally cleaned is a good idea. The garage should stay closed and any junk, broken down vehicles, etc. should be removed.

3.     Front porch: Similar to curb appeal, potential homeowners do not want to see shoes and children’s toys on the front porch. It is important to take the extra time to make sure the area outside of any doors are neat and tidy just as inside the home.

4.     Paint: It is not necessary to paint the entire interior of a house a different color. However, fresh, neutral paint and touch ups where holes have been patched/ walls nicked goes a long way in sharpening up the appearance of a home’s interior. In addition, obnoxiously bright colors (except for an accent wall) and murals are distracting when someone is viewing a home. Consider painting over them with a neutral tone as well.

5.     Photographs: We LOVE having pictures of all of our families moments forever memorialized in frames all over our home. Unfortunately, homeowners are the only ones who care about those. Buyers want to picture THEMSELVES in the home. It makes it difficult to do if there are hundreds of pictures of a homeowner’s family in the home. Minimize the amount of pictures that are displayed.

6.     General cleanliness: Belongings should be picked up, there should not be any strong odors from dinner the night before. Trash cans should be empty and even pouring a little splash of kitchen cleaner down the sink drains will give a fresh scent. If furniture is stained and dirty, a slip cover can make it look fresh. Lastly, replacing knobs, handles, towels, etc. is an inexpensive way to update the homes look.

7.     Light: Opening window shades bring in as much light as possible and give an open, airy feel.

You don’t need to go crazy spending money doing these things to get the home ready. Actually, spending as little as possible is a good idea. The idea is not to re-decorate the home, it is just to spruce it up to look better than the house down the street for sale. Buyers may think that if you care for the parts of the home that are seen, then maybe the unseen parts have been maintained as well. For more information or tips, feel free to contact me at:

[email protected] or visit my Facebook page

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This post is sponsored by:

bike-land-150x150The Brett Saks Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, hopes  to make our Arizona communities safer for bicyclists by teaching adults and children about road safety and mutual respect between drivers and cyclists in fun and engaging ways. We are “Shifting Gears to Saves Lives,” as more than 600 cyclists are lost each year to car-bike accidents. Learn more at gearupaz.org.

1 COMMENT

  1. Something that helps a ton in helping a home looks better is having clean blinds! And I don’t mean dust them. I mean either replace them or have them ultrasonically cleaned (same results as getting new blinds, but a whole lot cheaper!) Since dust is attracted by the static charge, dusting doesn’t make a difference for more than a few days. Ultrasonic cleaning eliminates the static charge so that dust isn’t attracted back immediately. Brothers Blind Cleaning (brothersblindcleaning.com) cleans, sells, and installs blinds. Check ’em out!

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