Prepping Your Home for Selling

Aside from marketing your home at a really competitive price there are many things you need to do to get ready to put it on the market and make that sale. Of course you'll want to be represented by the strongest possible real estate agent you can find. You can do a little research and find out who in each office is the top salesperson. That's extremely important. You don't want someone who is new to real estate sales, you don't want to give your listing to a family member out of obligation. That is just opening a can of worms. You need strong representation, the top salesperson.

If you have the right real estate agent she or he will walk through your home and point out what exactly needs to be done to help it make the best first impression on buyers. With all the programs on television you can do some studying yourself by watching programs like "My House is Worth What" , "Sell This House", "Flip This House" and more. It's a very difficult market out there, a buyers market, you want our house to shine.

A couple of great hints to make that house shine would be to start with decluttering. Collections are lovely but not something you need to display when selling. You want to depersonalize the home. No family pictures scattered all over, no salt and pepper collections, no "chatchkes".. Keep your kitchen counters empty. No stack of mail or recipe books sitting around. The less you have on kitchen counters the bigger they will look. Kids toys need to be packed up and put away, you don't want your family room looking like a day care center.

New paint is great, if you can't do entire rooms at least freshen up doors, especially your front door. A great front entrance is the first thing the buyer will see. A key word is 'Curb appeal", it's also the name of another great tv show that revolves around sprucing up your home.Curb appeal hinges on your buyers' general first impression. You want youre house to make a great impression when someone drives up. Do some quick landscaping. If it's the right season invest in some flowers and create a colorful pretty entrance walk. Make sure the street number on your hous stands out and is fresh. A new front door color could make your home pop.Trim back anything overgrown. Make sure your steps and walkway are fresh and inviting.For around $300, depending on the size of the home you can have it power washed. Windows should be cleaned inside and out. The garage should be as empty as possible and so should the basement. If it's a finished basement all the better. Organize and declutter these areas. If you have a driveway or deck make sure that is free of leaves and twigs. Get out the blower and freshen this area up. If you have a deck put a little bistro set out with an umbrella and a nice candle or two. You can pop a Citronella candle into a mason jar.A few potted flowers brighten this area up as well.

The Master bedroom is an important feature. If necessary invest in new bedding. They sell bed sets now that include the throw pillows, shams, bed skirts andmore all in one package. Make sure you're bed looks fresh and new. Dump the old worn coverlets. You can put odd magazines and junky ou would put on your night table into an attractive basket to hide them. New bathroom towels are a great idea and hide all the make up and junk.

Speaking of baskets , in your closets, arrange some baskets and put your stacks of sweaters or scarves and belts in the basket. Baskets onshelves look more attractive than piles of lcothing. This works for the laundry area as well. Put the bottles of detergent or rags and such in baskets on a shelf. Baskets can be found at DOllar stores or garage sales.

In the dining room what my friend did whenshe was selling was to set a gorgeous table. She kept this set at all times. She set out of lovely place mats, nice china and a little candle and faux plant centerpiece. It made the dining room look very inviting.You could put a few fresh plants around the home in general.No dusty fake plants, these aren't appealing.

Make sure chandeliers or light fixtures in general are updated and clean. This is also an easy fix. Home Depot carries attractive, inexpensive lighting fixtures you can swap out. I notice most of these shows will paint out any very bright colors and make the rooms in the homes look as neutral as possible. No dark or wild colors. It detracts frmthe room. You want to appeal to as manypotential buyers as possible.

Also, empty as much furniture as you can. The less furniture the bigger the room looks. You want the people to see the bones of the house not your Aunt TIllie's rocking chair and your old ottoman.

I kept a list of all the jobs I had done in the house and the receipts for tax write off purposes. I also kept a list of the names of the people who did the work for me for future reference. I had excellent painters, a great carpet service, a super carpenter. Many of these names I got from my real estate representative.

I got my Septic cleaned and all toilets up to snuff before listing. I made sure my air conditioner unit was in good shape.I had my water test done in advance. By checking all this out first it gives you less problems when it comes to the actual sale. No one can hold up the sale or bicker down the price over things that don't work.

When the house is showing make sure there is lots of light. Put a lamp on your desk or hall tables for more light. Open any blinds and pull back curtains..

A clean, attractive, bright inviting home will help your house sell. It will make it competitive. Considering the market now that is all very importantl Good luck