Preparing Your House for Sale

This is the fourth in a series of occasional pieces by Medford Realtor Susan deRosas. deRosas lives in Medford and has been selling residential real estate for over twenty years. She developed www.MyAgentBook.com, a social network with hundreds of Realtor members across the country. Click on “Real Estate” to see previous articles by deRosas.

The first thing every seller has to realize is that we don’t necessarily live in our houses the same way that we best market them! It is all about appealing to the buyers! As a first step take an objective look at your house from the street to the front door and then to the interior. If you have any deferred maintenance issues that you have been putting off – Now is the time to deal with them; a broken door handle, peeling paint on the front door, a leaky faucet, etc. It is however, not the time to make any new investments. You will want to focus on repairs rather than improvements; unless those improvements are free or cheap such as a coat of paint.

Consider the following a general list of recommendations with more suggestions to come in the next few weeks:

• Remove the clutter. It is a great excuse to purge your house of all of the clutter that has built up over the years. This means from the attic to the basement to the garage. Closets and pantries included. Clutter only makes our space look smaller which is a negative. You will have to do this prior to your move anyway so look at it as getting ahead of yourself. If you have large items that you intend to bring with you to your next home but do not fit into your current space then consider renting a portable storage container. It is a good investment!
• A fresh coat of paint is worth the effort! When selecting colors try to choose warm and inviting colors; not necessarily bland colors either. It used to be that the recommendations were to choose white/off white as it was in new construction, this is no longer the best choice. Instead choose neutral but more interesting colors such as earth tones; taupe, gold and deep beiges are good choices. Remember to stay away from bold choices though.
• Depersonalize (but to an extent). Many Agents would have you remove all pictures, etc from your book cases, walls and refrigerators. I would suggest paring down considerably. For example, two or three small pictures on the side of the refrigerator are fine. One or two pictures on the mantel are also fine. You absolutely do not want to have many more than that. If you have framed family photos up and down your hallways and stairs you will want to pack them away for your move.
• CLEAN! CLEAN! CLEAN! I cannot emphasize this enough. No one wants to buy someone else’s dirt. There is likely no other single distraction to a buyer than a dirty house. The cleaning should include everything! Walls, windows, baseboards, floors, cabinets inside and out, carpets. Well, you understand. You should also pay particular attention to how your house smells. If you are not sure than ask a friend for an honest opinion. If you have pets, smokers, etc. living in your house then you will have to air your house out and neutralize all odors!
• Make sure all of your lights are working and that the bulbs are bright. Light both natural and electrical are quite important to the overall appearance of your house.

Next week I will continue with additional recommendations including a feature from Dotty Volpe from the Redecorators of Boston on staging your home for Sale. I have, with great success, used her services for staging homes for sale. It is amazing what a difference in can make in some homes. The only potential downside is that you may not want to move!