Home Selling Tips

We've all watched the HGTV shows, read a magazine article, been given the "secret" to successfully selling a home...but yet some sellers still just do not get it! Putting your best foot forward is crucial to selling a home, especially in a "buyers" market.

We've all heard the age old saying "it's the little things that matter most" or "it's all in the details". When it comes to selling a home, truer words were never spoken. I have been with many a customer touring a home only to be greeted with a foul odor coming from who knows where from who knows what or have endured the frustration of turning on light switches to lights that do not work (simply because the bulb was burned out). Now one might say, hey what's the big deal? Everyone has dirty laundry, don't they? And you've had a light bulb burn out now & then, haven't you? So what's the big deal?

The big deal is that I am selling my house. And every little detail leaves an impression. The foul smell coming from my laundry may simply mean my sons a hockey player but in the mind of a buyer it could leave the impression that I am not a good house keeper and a house that is not well kept can deteriorate faster. Or, the burned out light bulb could say to the buyer that if I can't make sure all the lights are working when I know someone is going to be looking at my house, then what other maintenance or repairs am I neglecting? Neither of these impressions represent the reality of what is going on but they do represent the reality seen by the buyer based on his/her impressions. There is an old marketing saying, "you don't change someones reality you change their impression.

So as you prepare your home for sale and especially right before an Open House or private showing, do make sure to take stock in all the impressions that all the little things are making.