10 Tips for preparing your home to sell.

Selling your home is both an exciting and stressful time. Having moved many times before myself I understand the difficulty and challenges faced in what it takes to get a home prepared for selling! Here is a list of tips and things to focus on for getting your home ready for sale:

1. Become a Cleaning Machine! Time to break out the mops, dusters, vacuums and cleaning supplies.From Top to bottom, the house needs to be spotless. From sinks to bathtubs, windows to doorknobs,basements too, make it immaculate. Kids Playrooms are often overlooked, but even cleaning this room and making it presentable is a bonus. If you don’t have the time you can always hire cleaner. Make sure carpets don’t get neglected in this cleaning process either.
2. Less is more! If you have extra furniture in a room, remove it. The last thing you want is the room to feel cramped and tight. Open that space up and remove anything in excess that isn’t going to be used on a regular basis. Clear off the counter-tops in both kitchens and bathrooms. Two reasons, no one wants to see a pile of kitchen appliances cluttering up great counter space, secondly it will make people assume there is a lack of storage space for items. Get rid of the family photos and the knick-knacks. Remember this house isn’t yours anymore, so clear off personable items.
3. Repaint if necessary! If you have trim outside that is peeling or cracked, spend the time to bring it back to life. The exterior is the first impression of the home, don’t give potential buyers any excuse to turn up their nose. A fresh coat of paint will do wonders! Don’t neglect the interior either. When painting inside try to use neutral colours. Anything that makes a buyer question something is a strike against it. If you have wallpaper, get rid of it.
4. Clean the exterior! Pressure wash the siding and remove all dirt. Clean the windows and take some time to clean out any dead flowers from flower beds.
5. Landscaping! You don’t need to go over the top and plant a new garden or add new trees. You need to make it look appealing. Make sure to rake and water the grass, and if there are any animal spots, spend the time to reseed those spots. Remove any animal droppings.
6. Rotten wood? Replace it. It looks unsightly and by leaving it, it could cause potential buyers to wonder what else might be in disrepair.
7. Bathrooms Need to be squeaky clean! Remove all soap dishes, fancy arrangements and make sure there is no soap scum or rust anywhere. If the caulking looks discoloured, strip and re-caulk. Don’t give a potential buyer any reason to question something!
8. Odours! Visual clues can turn off a potential buyer but smell is a very powerful sense that needs to be considered. Buyers can be turned off or offended by pet smells, smell of smoke, heavy cooking and other sources. Do not burn scented candles or use any of their fragrance room enhancer counterparts. Any overwhelming smell of fresh flowers or apple cinnamon can be a major red flag for buyers. It can come across as though you are covering up an existing odour. Remember, you may like the scented stuff, but potential buyers may not.
9. Fix whatever is broken! If there’s a hole in the wall, fix it, if a faucet doesn’t work, fix it. Burnt out light-bulbs need to be replaced too.
10. Staging: Dress up your home. This process will tastefully arrange furniture, décor and accent pieces to show off space and create an inviting environment. You’ve seen show homes, that’s how your home needs to look.

**Bonus** Developing an unfinished basement can increase the price of a home. It may cost a bit of money upfront but in the end you’ll get it all back and then some. Talk to your agent to see if it would benefit you and maximize the profit of your home. These are the Best Home selling tips to getting your home ready to sell. I know its difficult to imagine your home so bare and less personalized, but you need to go with the mentality that it isn’t yours anymore. A phrase I often hear is “People need to realize that someone lives here” Truth of the matter is no one wants to see dirty dishes, dirty laundry, or left out appliances, they want to envision a home they can see themselves living in and where their furniture will fit. Don’t allow them to question anything, especially not how you live. As soon as you call your agent you need to act like the home is already sold. A motivated and eager seller is the best seller. Buyers will recognize that too!