Three tips to prepare to sell your home
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- Published on Thursday, June 21, 2018
Photo property of Metro Creative Connection
If you鈥檙e sell your home, don鈥檛 forget to give the property a once over to keep Fido鈥檚 scent at a minimum.
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Metro Creative Connection
While a good home can find a buyer any time of year, homeowners might find the buyers鈥� pool is strongest in spring and into summer. The reasons for that are many, ranging from parents wanting to move when their children are not in school to buyers wanting to move when the weather is most accommodating.
Because spring is such a popular time to sell a home, homeowners who want to put their homes on the market should use winter as an opportunity to prepare their homes for the prying eyes of prospective buyers. The following tips can help homeowners during the pre-selling preparation process.
Address the exterior of the home
Winter can be harsh on a home鈥檚 exterior, so as winter winds down, homeowners who want to sell their homes should make an effort to address anything that might negatively affect their homes鈥� curb appeal. A study of homes in Greenville, S.C., from researchers at Clemson University found that the value of homes with landscapes that were upgraded from 鈥済ood鈥� to 鈥渆xcellent鈥� increased by 6 to 7 percent. If it鈥檚 in the budget, hire professional landscapers to fix any problematic landscaping or address any issues that arose during the winter. 水果视频owners with green thumbs can tackle such projects on their own, but hiring professionals is akin to staging inside the home.
Conquer interior clutter
Clutter has a way of accumulating over the winter, when people tend to spend more time indoors than they do throughout the rest of the year. 水果视频owners who want to put their homes on the market in spring won鈥檛 have the luxury of waiting until spring to do their 鈥渟pring鈥� cleaning, so start clearing any clutter out in winter, even resolving to make an effort to prevent its accumulation throughout winter. Just like buyers are impressed by curb appeal, they are turned off by clutter. The Appraisal Institute suggests homeowners clear clutter out of their homes before appraisers visit, and the same approach can be applied to open houses. Buyers, like appraisers, see cluttered homes as less valuable. In addition, a home full of clutter might give buyers the impression, true or not, that the home was not well maintained.
Eliminate odors
A home鈥檚 inhabitants grow accustomed to odors that might be circulating throughout the house. Pet odor, for instance, might not be as strong to a home鈥檚 residents as it is to guests and prospective buyers. Because windows tend to stay closed throughout the winter, interior odors can be even stronger come late-winter than they are during the rest of the year. A thorough cleaning of the house, including vacuuming and removal of any pet hair that accumulated over the winter, can help to remove odor. In the weeks leading up to the open house, bathe pets more frequently, using a shampoo that promotes healthy skin so pet dander is not as prevalent. Open windows when the weather allows so more fresh air comes into the home.
Spring is a popular and potentially lucrative time to sell a home, and homeowners who spend winter preparing their homes for the market may reap even greater rewards.
