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Your house is amazing. You know it. No doubt about it; you have put love, work, and time into making it a home that is full of memories and warmth. But now, you are ready for a change in life. Maybe you are upgrading, maybe you are downsizing, who knows, there are lots of reasons to want to move.
So you list your home, but for some reason, potential buyers don’t seem to understand all of the value-adds that your home has to offer. What is going on? The price seems more than reasonable, so why don’t you have an offer?
The biggest hurdle for most people that want to sell their house is to understand that they are not the buyer. The world is a diverse place and the way that people choose to live differs more than you might imagine.
If you could find a home buyer who thinks and lives like you, selling your home would be a piece of cake. The challenge (and blessing) is that no one is really like you. Therefore, you must think about attracting the most potential buyers to your place — and that means “mainstreaming” your house to appeal to more people.
Here are 5 quick tips for adding value to your home:
1. Clean up/de-clutter
It is wonderful that you love your family so much that you have a wall full of slightly-slanted family photographs and your kindergartner’s artwork on the fridge. It is awesome that you want to stay in shape and have used that extra space for a treadmill. It’s cool how many antique McDonald’s Happy Meal toys you have collected over the years and displayed on your built-in shelves in the guest room. The problem is that almost 100% of people will think and feel that your home is bigger when it is cleaned up and de-cluttered.
Feel free to decorate to your heart’s content when you move into your next place, but for now, remove everything that you are not going to use in the next six months. Kill two birds with one stone by starting to pack your old books and family memories before you start to show your house
2. Landscape
The first thing people see as they pull up to your house is what your exterior looks like. Keep your lawn mowed, your flowers alive and front porch swept. People don’t want to think “this place is going to be a lot of work” as their first impression.
3. Complete the small maintenance you’ve been putting off
You know that sliding door that you have to muscle open? How about that rickety bathroom fan that makes a ton of extra noise? You know how you are going to finally fix that gutter that came loose? Well, now is the time! Little things like door hinges not working can detract thousands of dollars of perceived value in your customer’s eyes. If you aren’t a DIY’er, ask your neighbors if they know a handyman and offer that guy $150 to fix a bunch of things on your list.
(If you don’t fix these things now, you will most likely get dinged later on a home inspection report which can cause a delay in closing)
4. Keep your house in “hotel” shape
Clean up, vacuum, make beds, fold bathroom towels and keep dishes out of the sink on a daily basis. If you can put out a pitcher of water with a couple of clean glasses on the kitchen counter to give out to any potential home buyers. They want a place to feel easy to take care of, so if you go above and beyond, it looks like you have a life that allows for things like that!
5. Ask people to “remove their shoes” upon entry
If you have done your job on the steps above, your house must be looking super-fine! If that is the case, you want it staying that way. Asking people to remove their shoes gives the impression that you care very much about the cleanliness of your home and that it is not okay to trample through it with dirty shoes. People will enjoy walking on the clean floors and carpet and get to use their sense of touch instead of just sight to enjoy your place.
So there you have it. Time to get to work! Do you have other suggestions or comments about these above? I’d love to hear it!
Thanks for reading —
Matthew Gilman, Broker, Windermere Real Estate, Redmond Oregon
541mattg@gmail.com
