Make a Great First Impression

Let’s face it, the last thing you want is for a potential buyer to drive up to the house, look at the outside, and then drive away without ever coming inside because the outside looks terrible.  To sell a house quickly, you need the buyers to be immediately attracted to the home and eager to see what is inside. So the first and probably the most important area to consider improving is the exterior appearance or curb appeal of the home.  Remember, it does not matter how beautiful the inside of the house is if you can never get them inside to see it.

How does your house look from the outside?  Does it look well maintained and lovingly taken care of?  Is the lawn cut, planting beds mulched, and free of weeds?  Are there toys or junk all over the yard?  Does it look worn down and neglected?

If you want to sell the home quickly – then clean up the landscaping, get rid of the junk, rake the leaves, pull the weeds, mulch the planting beds, trim bushes, and most importantly, clean up after the pets.  And then keep it that way until the home is sold and closed.

Thankfully, these are fairly simple do-it-yourself tasks that can be done by the average homeowner.  But if you do not have the time, ability, or simply have better things to do then hire one of the neighbor’s kids or a cash-starved college student to do the work for you. The cost will be minimal and the payback will be immediate.  You will get a great return on investment and this should be the first thing that you do when you decide to sell your home.

What About the Inside of the House?

Now that you have potential buyers eager to see the inside, we need to make sure we do not disappoint them when they walk through the door.

The most important thing you can do to the interior of a home to make it sell quickly also happens to be the least expensive, and is also a potential do-it-yourself project.  A house that is clean, light, bright, and open will sell faster and for more money.  So bust out the broom, vacuum, and cleaning supplies and scrub the home from top to bottom.  Don’t forget to wash the light switch covers, heating/AC vents, and exhaust fan covers. While you are at it, open the curtains or blinds to allow as much natural light in as possible and make sure every light fixture has a good working light bulb.

Next, you want to declutter the house and make it feel more open and larger. You are moving, right?  So start packing and moving things from inside the house to either the garage or rent a self-storage space.  Go closet to closet and ask yourself if you will need the item in the next 60 to 90 days.  If the answer is no, then pack it up. Then go room to room and ask yourself if the piece of furniture or decoration is necessary.  Does it make the room look larger or smaller?  If in doubt, move the item to storage.  This is a true case of less is more!  You should also remove everything you can from the top of your countertops.  If it is not a decoration, like a toaster, store it in a cabinet when not in use.

Again, if you do not have the time, ability, or simply have better things to do then hire one of the neighbor’s kids or a cash-starved college student to do the work for you.  This is money well spent!