It is so important to make sure that your home looks welcoming and beautiful from the outside.
What Are Important Items to Maximize Your Property Value Before Putting It on the Market?
You get one chance to win your buyer, so as we like to say, the first impression is the only impression. No matter how nice the inside of your home looks, as soon as the buyers have driven up, they have formed judgments about the exterior, the neighborhood, etc. It is important to make sure that your home looks welcoming and beautiful from the outside.
When we prepare a house for market, these are the instructions that we give to our sellers. We often will hold their hand through the process and take care of organizing and executing all tasks associated with prepping the listing after the valuation of your property.
Spruce Up the Exterior
We often recommend decorating your homes exterior with inexpensive shrubs and brightly colored flowers. You can typically get a 100-percent return on the money you put into your homes curb appeal. If your house needs a powerwash, or some of the exteriors need to be replaced/fixed, it should always be done. Clean up debris, and leaves and make it look like a brand new home as best as you can.
Create a Grand Entrance
Entryways are so important. Clear out all the coats and shoes and leave just a pair and a coat. Make it welcoming by putting in a small bench and fresh-cut flowers.
Empty Your Closets
Storage is something every buyer is looking for and can never have enough of, especially in the older homes of New England where they didn't seem to have many belongings. Take three-quarters of the stuff out of your closets then neatly organize the rest. Buyers will open all your kitchen drawers and all your cabinets, so be sure to keep them clean and organized.
Brighten It Up
Everyone is looking for natural light, and with COVID buyers have paid more attention to the light in their homes since they are now home at all hours of the day. After location, natural light is consistently the top priority of buyers. To increase light in your home you can take down drapes, paint walls white, get rid of dark furniture or area rugs, clean your windows, change the lampshades, strategically use mirrors, increase the wattage of your light bulbs and cut bushes (sometimes even trees!) to let in sunlight.
Dont Go Crazy
Quick finishing touches and improvements before selling always pay off but you dont need to do a complete makeover. The updates that will pay off the most are: a new fresh coat of paint on the walls, polished hardwood floors, cleaned carpets, clean blinds or curtains, new shower curtains, caulking, a deep cleaning, replace any outdated door handles or busted cabinet hardware, make sure doors and windows close properly, fix leaky faucets, replace screens in windows, patch holes in the walls.
De-personalize the House
It is important to create a blank canvas so that potential buyers can imagine themselves living there. A common recommendation is to clear out of a third of your belongings and to put them into storage. Mostly you want to clear out photos, knick-knacks, memorabilia collections, and personal keepsakes. We always recommend a home stager to maximize the full potential of your home! Staging simply means arranging your furniture, or placing new furniture, to best showcase the floor plan and maximize the use of space.
Life Revolves Around the Kitchen:
An updated kitchen always brings a return on investment. People spend the most time at home in their kitchen and it is where buyers imagine themselves living in your home when they tour. The fastest, and most affordable updates you can do are applying a fresh coat of paint and updating cabinet hardware when needed. If your kitchen needs more costly updates that our team can offer you the Compass concierge program which fronts the cost of any and all home improvement services with no interest - ever. Find out more here.
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