Tips for Preparing Your Home for Sale
This is the fifth 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.
Some additional suggestions from the Experts in Staging Your Home for Sale from the Redecorators:
Moving on in the area of preparing your home for sale, I have had occasion to get great input from Dotty Volpe, the owner of the Redecorators of Boston. All that was written about in the last article still apply. Cleaning, clutter removal, etc. Make sure to add these additional suggestions to your “to do†list because they will have an incredible impact on the sale of your house and will insure that you maximize your investment! You deserve every last dollar coming to you! To put this effort into perspective I will quote Dotty Volpe who says, “We all become so accustomed to living in our homes our way, that we miss many important details that a buyer would pick up.” Here Goes!
First, you need to start from the outside:
Take a Drive
Go for a ride and when you come back to your home, take a critical look at the front of your home. Does the front door, trim, or body of the house need paint? Is the mailbox from the ‘50’s? Are the shrubberies overgrown? Is there any happy color in the front of the house in terms of flowers at the entry, window boxes, or a handsome wreath on the door? Are there toys and bicycles strewn over the lawn? Are there trash barrels staring you in the face? Stairs that need repointing, foundation cracks that need filling? These are all items that will turn off a buyer as they pull up…it reads lack of maintenance or chaos to them.
What’s Wrong With This Picture?
Get your camera out and take pictures of each room in your house…it is amazing how much you notice in a picture that you would not notice otherwise. Lack of color on the walls (please, no intense colors except for children/teenagers rooms); stay with the neutrals such as Benjamin Moore Putnam Ivory, ie., a color that is neutral but has depth so that any piece of art or object will be enhanced. Are there dead corners? These are easily fixed with a palm tree from Home Depot or a good faux tree; a folding screen or a tall base with a piece of sculpture or vase with sticks and flowers .
Is the furniture placement “blockyâ€â€¦.no ease of passing, too much furniture in the room? Or is it the opposite problem where all you are looking at is a couch and television? If you lack the resources to buy furniture, try to borrow from family and friends for a temporary staging or stretch furniture by taking arm chairs from the dining room and use in the living room with a throw pillow to beef them up!
Look at the size of your carpets…the larger the carpet, the bigger the room will feel; there is nothing worse than a teeny carpet in a large space…it looks like a polka dot and visually diminishes the size of the room. If you have too much furniture or too many matching pieces that looks like you bought the showroom display, pull a large piece out and use in another space…a bedroom, family room, office.
Group Items Together!
There is nothing that will spell clutter more than a bunch of little items, including family photos, that are spread all over the room. Group these items, varying their heights to calm things down and make them look more interesting ( you can use books to raise items…no paperbacks, please). Use the theory of odds: use three items, not four, in accessorizing. If putting faux orchids/flowers in a vase, use 5, 7 or 9….trust me, it is the rule that works.
Think Big
When purchasing artwork, mirrors, trees, lamps…always think big…the taller the better, it adds height to your rooms and a more elegant and grand feeling…no matter how small the space.
Sparkle, Sparkle
Mirrors are miracles. The larger, the better. Always hang vertically if possible to add height and drama to a room. Over a buffet in the dining room, add tall lamps on either side that, when lit, will add sparkle. Place a tray with bar glasses, wine glasses and decanters on buffets, coffee tables, beside a chair in a reading area. When the sun is shining or the lights are on, it adds light and sparkle.
Add an Office
No, an addition is not necessary! Everyone these days needs an office area, even if it is a laptop on a console. When you incorporate this into a family room or living room or a dead stairway landing or hallway, even a kitchen, it reads as additional usable space. Multifunction is great these days.
Go to Extreme Heights
When installing draperies or blinds, the higher the better. Gone are the days where draperies are hung on window casings….go as high as you can and it will create a feeling or more space and will add drama. Ready made long draperies are available in many places online from J.C.Penney, Bed Bath and Beyond, Restoration Hardware and Ikea. This makes a huge difference.
The Basics
Clean out your closets…nothing turns a buyer off than overstuffed cluttered closets because it reads not enough space. This goes for clothes closets, kitchen cabinets, linen closets, bookcases, storage on stairways to the basement. The more you clear, the more spacious the home will feel.
The Friend Whiff Test
Invite a friend who loves you over and have them give your house the whiff test. If you have animals or babies, things can stink up fast and you become immune to it. If you smoke, ban it inside the house. Clean your home from top to bottom with a cleaner that is as natural and fresh smelling as possible…citrus is always a winner.