Tips to help sell your home — Part I of III
As I wrote yesterday, this is a three part series covering tips that should help home owners with a successful home sale.
Start with this questions in mind: Is your home as presentable as it can be in order to impress those potential buyers?
A good rule of thumb to follow for a fast, profitable and successful sale is to improve the cosmetic aspects of your home. Avoid, however, making major changes unless they will increase the value of your home more than the cost of the improvement.
PART I
Part I will cover tips focusing on the outside or exterior of the building. Remember, when a potential buyer pulls up to view your home, their first impression is formed based on how the home looks from the street. So start with the exterior and don’t put all of your time, attention and money into just the interior of the property.
The first impression is often the lasting impression potential buyers leave the property with. People usually decide within two minutes whether they like your home or not. The first two minutes is sometimes all you get to make a lasting positive impression! And, potential buyers start forming this important impression before they even walk in the front door.
- Invest in landscaping where it can be seen at first sight. For example, a well manicured lawn with neatly clipped shrubs and a cleanly swept walkway will help to create a positive impression as your potential buyer moves from their car to the front door.
- Cut back trees and shrubs that hinder the walk to the front door or may keep natural light out of the house.
- Make a walk around the perimeter of the property and visually inspect the roof and rain gutters. Your potential buyers will be making this inspection, so should you. Any missing shingles should be replaced and gutters and down-spouts should be repaired or replaced.
- If necessary, your home may be in need of a fresh coat of paint. If you decide against an entire house paint, consider touching up front shutters, window frames and trim.
- If the potential buyers make it as far as the front door, it’s here where they will pause the longest as they wait for their Realtor to get the key from the lock-box and unlock the door. This moment of waiting gives them plenty of time to inspect the area around the front door. Not only should this area be spotless, consider adding fresh flowers with lots of color in matching pots.
- And finally, be honest and decide if the front door needs refinishing or a fresh coat of paint or some new hardware.
These six suggestions will help with a fast, successful and profitable sale.
For more specific tips on your individual property, contact us for a personal appointment. We’ve helped other Clovis and Fresno real estate sellers in your same situation, and we can help you as well.
In addition, click over to our professional real estate seller services page. Here we explain the steps we take to ensure our clients get the best real estate service they can. Not only have we bullet-proofed our services, we’ve put them in writing.
One Comment
Tips to help sell your home | Joseph Hollak / 16 Feb 2010 / 1:59 PM