In preparing your home for sale, there are generally three areas of focus; de-clutter/clean, minor repairs/paint, and de-personalizing. A small investment of time and money in these three areas could make the diferrence in both the time on the market and the final selling price.
De-Cluttering/Clean:
Starting in either the basement or attic, pack-up all items through-out the home that are not needed on a daily basis, storing them in a neat manner in a section of the basement/attic. Think of this as preparing yourself for the move. This way when your house is sold you will already have a jump on the moving thing. If you do not have designated storage area, such as a basement ot attic, you may want to consider renting a storage area until your home is sold.
Also consider having a garage sale. No matter what time of year, there are plenty of garage sale customers. A summer time sale is typically held outdoors or in the garage. So where would you hold one in the winter? Indoors, maybe in the basement or wherever you have the most open space in your home. A winter garage sale can bring even more customers as there is no competition. After the sale, donate or discard un-purchased items.
Once you have de-cluttered, give your entire home a "deep" cleaning; counters, appliances, cabinets, bath fixtures, windows (glass & frame, inside & out), ceiling fans, floors and carpets.
Don't forget the outdoors. The drive-by is still as important as ever in selling your home. Make sure that these areas are also neat and tidy to give the right impression to the potential buyer. One that says that this house is ready for them to move into and enjoy knowing that "it has been well cared for".
Yes, the garage will also need to be tidied. Remember part of what you're selling is usable square footage..with the emphesis on usable.
Minor Repairs/Paint:
Attend to any minor repairs that are needed. Each repair in and of itself may not be a big deal but when added together they give the buyer the impression that there is going to be "a lot of work to do". If even had buyers go so far as to label a house a "fixer upper". It is not unusual for minor repairs to be a factor in turning away potential buyers or costing thousands in the final sale price.
In these days of HGTV and the DIY channel, it is especially important for your home to have a little "wow" factor and one of the easiest and inexpensive ways to get it is with paint. For example; paint one wall in a room a color 3-5 shades darker than the nuetral color of the rest of the walls.
De-personalizing:
Some real estate experts believe that it is important to remove ALL personal items - photos, etc. I'm not so sure. I think it is a balance. A photo of a treasured family moment can evoked strong feelings of "home" and after all this is one of the emotions that you're trying to evoke in a buyer. However, a home filled with photos on the walls, furniture and even kitchen appliances is too, too much!
Speaking of kitchen appliances, while your home is on the market avoid using them as bulletin boards. Again it is about balance, a drawing made by a child placed on the "frig" for display. But when combined with everything else, like teacher notes, doctor appointment slips, etc., etc. it is way too much and definately does not leave a positive impression.
There is no formula to guarentee the successful sale of your home but hopefully focusing in these three areas - de-clutter/clean, repair/paint, and de-personalize - will go a long way in getting it done.
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