94 Easy Ways to Make Your Home Sell Faster
Suggestions and ideas to improve your home’s appearance and help you prepare to sell it faster! If you are thinking of selling your home, there are a number of things of can do to improve the overall impression of your home.
But first, you must learn to look at your home through the eyes of the prospective buyer.
- Open the draperies, pull up the shades and let in the sunlight.
- Create a positive mood. Turn on all lights, day or night. Open the curtains during the day.
- Install higher wattage light bulbs to show your home brightly- in it’s best light. Turn on all lights.
- Remove all clutter from each room to visually enlarge them.
- Create the illusion of spaciousness
- If you have a fireplace, highlight it in your decorating.
- Keep your home dusted and vacuumed at all times.
- Have a family emergency “game plan” to get the home in order quickly if necessary.
- Air out your home one half hour before the showing if possible.
- Lightly spray the room with air freshener so that it has a chance to diffuse and air before the buyer arrives.
- Microwave a small dish of vanilla twenty minutes before the showing and place it in an out-of-the-way-place in the kitchen.
- Create an owner’s “suite” effect in your decorating.
- Make sure that beds are made and the linens and curtains are fresh and clean.
- Organize your closets, remove unnecessary items and put them in storage.
- Bathrooms should always be kept spotlessly clean.
- Do not leave towels around and wipe down the shower areas after each use.
- Re-caulk if the caulking is not sparkling white!
- Put out fresh towels and decorative soaps for showings.
- Set the scene by setting the table! Highlight the potential of your dining room by setting a grand dining table!
- The kitchen should always be kept spotlessly clean.
- Expand your counter space by removing small appliances.
- Highlight an eat-in area in your kitchen with a table set for dinner.
- Shampoo all carpets and vacuum them daily.
- If the carpet does not clean up well, you should Replace It! One of our clients is a wholesale carpeting contractor, fyi.
- Improve traffic flow through every room and create a feeling of spaciousness in every room by removing unnecessary furniture, hobby items, children’s items, etc.
- However, try to also avoid creating a “sterile” looking environment.
- Remove all grease from range hoods, ovens, stove tops, walls, etc.
- Clean rubbish out of fireplace and keep it clean in the winter.
- If you have numerous family photos, put them away until your home is under contract. Prospective buyers will feel more like it can be their home if they aren’t aware of your family photo memories. You want them thinking about the house, not who currently lives there.
- Remove all unnecessary items from the attic, basement, garage, tool shed, and especially from the storage area if you have one.
- Rent a storage area for these items or have a garage/yard sale.
- Straighten, tidy, and remove unnecessary items from all closets. Put unnecessary items in storage, or invest in under-the-bed storage boxes.
- Fix the front doorbell!
- Invest in a new door mat.
- Make sure the front door, storm door, screen door, etc. all work well.
- Create the feeling of a spacious entry area by using decorating accents, mirrors, rugs, etc., and by removing all unnecessary clutter.
- Regardless of the season, tackle spring cleaning. Clean everything in your home from top to bottom, from the attic to the basement!
- Wash all windows, inside and out.
- Curtains should be fresh, clean and attractive.
- Clean all light bulbs, light fixtures, and chandeliers to brighten the home.
- Remove all smoke odors, pet odors, and odors resulting form hobbies.
- Remove posters and adhesive from walls and doors and putty any holes resulting from nails or other mishaps.
- Depersonalize teenagers’ rooms and decorate in a neutral temperament.
- Clean or paint the basement walls and floors.
- Paint all inside walls with a neutral color. Use two or more coats to cover bold, bright or dark walls.
- All walls should be painted if in poor condition. This will brighten the home and make it look bigger.
- Repair or replace all doors, closet doors, and/or windows and screens so that they open with ease.
- Repair or replace banisters and handrails.
- Repair or replace broken tiles on walls, floors or in showers/tubs.
- Repair or replace loose or dangling wallpaper.
- If the basement shows any sign of water or structural damage, it may be necessary to obtain a structural engineer’s report.
- Replace all toilet bowls if you cannot get them spotlessly clean
- Replace all shower curtains and keep them clean.
- Replace the washers in faucets and remove rust stains from basins.
- Water and prune all plants.
- Use plants in transitional areas of your home between inside and out.
- Either get rid of dying plants or keep them out of sight.
- Remove any excess extension cords and exposed wires.
- Open doors to areas you want the potential buyer to see, such as walk-in closets, pantries, attics, basements, etc.
- Close all other closet doors and cabinets.
- Make the most of your attic’s potential.
- Make the attic as pleasant as possible by airing it out and decorating it.
- Add visual appeal to stairways, especially unfurnished stairways to the basement.
- Keep the yard mowed, raked, fertilized and watered at all times!
- Remove all toys, bicycles, tools, unsightly patio furniture, trash, etc., from the yard.
- Trees and shrubs should be pruned and trimmed.
- Lawns and gardens should be weeded at all times.
- Use flowering plants to dress up the yard, walkways and patio.
- All hoses and garden equipment should be neatly out of sight.
- Outdoor furniture should be kept clean and/or repainted if necessary.
- Firewood should be neatly stacked or out of sight.
- Mailboxes should be evaluated with a critical eye.
- Paint and repair the mailbox or replace it, if necessary.
- Make all those minor repairs to the exterior.
- Porches, steps, verandas, balconies, patios, and other extensions of the house should be kept uncluttered, swept, and in good condition.
- Paint all entrance doors if condition warrants.
- Shades and awnings should be in good condition. Replace if the color has faded. Remove windsocks.
- Create an outside living/dining area with furniture and plants.
- Highlight your pool area, water garden, etc., with lighting, benches, planters, flowering plants, etc.
- Take nighttime photos of decorative yard lighting systems.
- Take pictures of your flowering, mature landscaping now, if you are planning to sell you home later in the season.
- Display these photos in your home in the winter time.
- Clean and shine all accessories (door knobs, knockers, lamps, mailboxes, address numbers, etc.)
- Clean, repair and paint all gutters and downspouts.
- All roof shingles, tiles, etc. should be secured or replaced. If the roof leaks, Fix It!
- Make sure the garage door opens easily. Fix and paint the garage door if necessary.
- Paint chimney (if condition warrants) and replace broken bricks or stones.
Some final things you can do to help your home sell quickly!
- An investment in painting your home can really make the difference between “turning on” the buyer and sending up a red flag about the condition of the home. Kime Realty has multiple “preferred” painters that have helped over a hundred past clients over the years prior to listing entry.
- Floors. Prospective buyers focus on walls…and floors. Make sure carpeting is in good condition. If it isn’t, discuss your options with us. Clean hardwood and tile flooring. Attractive flooring is one of the secrets to getting your home sold quickly and for top dollar.
- Kime Realty will invest in professional photography – wide angle photos are one of the secrets to creating interest in the prospective buyer’s mind.
- Kime Realty will present all offers in video format via email, text, or Zoom.
- It is suggested that you either leave your home during showings or provide the showing agent and prospective buyer spacing and privacy as they visit your home.
- Kime Realty will invest in a digital floor plan of your home, something only 5% of listing agents provide. Floor plans make your home look larger and allow the prospective buyer to visualize furniture placement and potential home improvements.
- Kime Realty will invest into a high-end 3D virtual tour which allows prospective home buyers to tour your home virtually 24/7.
- Keep in mind for every 10 showings, you should receive one or two offers. No one generates a higher volume of foot traffic via state-of-the-art marketing systems than Kime Realty. You will discover this is the greatest value Kime Realty brings to the table.
Selling Your Southeast Michigan Home?
If you’re thinking of selling your home, contact us at Kime Realty to discuss what it’s worth in today’s market!