Presentation in Trying To Sell Your Home

With so many homes on the market today, it seems to be imperative that home owners try to find ways of making their homes more presentable, not only to sell their house, but to make as much money on the sale of the house as possible.  Even in a seller’s market, making some changes so that your home is more presentable can bring you a much better deal.

The first thing to realize is that you may have to spend money to make money.  You might as well overcome that one early, because once you get that out of the way, you’re ready to make some real changes.  Lucky for you, not all of the changes you might need to make will be big money.

For instance, if your house has vinyl siding, a power wash would be a great thing to consider.  With just a mixture of bleach and water and a heavy sprayer, you can make your house look imminently more presentable on the outside.  If you don’t want to do it yourself, you can hire someone for around $150 or so to do it for you.

While we’re talking about the outside of the house, look at the awnings and other little things that help to frame the house to see if they can be cleaned or need to be replaced.  Also, think about trimming bushes that are around the house, and possibly doing a little something with the lawn, such as keeping it cut.  Think about having the driveway resealed, which can be done for around $100 in most places.  If you have a major paving job, I probably wouldn’t do that, but I would fill in any holes or breaks in the pavement where weeds and grass are pushing up.

The most crucial place in the house to clean up is the area where people are coming in.  It sets the tone for how the rest of the house tour will go.  Try not to have too many distracting things in the area, such as plants or fish tanks; you’re trying to present the house, not your ideas.  Make sure the area is clean, and paint if necessary.

If other rooms are right off the entrance, make sure they’re all presentable also.  Many people don’t think of their own light fixtures, but potential buyers will, so don’t forget to think about that.  Check the floors, and if there are rips in the rug, you might have to replace it or have it fixed in some way.  Of course, if you have to clean and paint those rooms also, do it.

In our last post, we talked about things you might need to do to make sure the initial presentation of your home gives the best impression about it.  Here are some more ideas for other places within your home that you might want to think about addressing.

The kitchen is one of the most important focal points in the entire house.  This is where food will be prepared, and where someone will probably be spending a lot of time.  So, you want to make sure it looks as good as possible.  You’ll want to either replace what you have on the floor or clean it up as much as possible.  You’ll want to either repaint or change the cabinets in some fashion.  Actually, doing both, either painting and staining the cabinets, then replacing the handles with something fancy, could make a world of difference.  If you change the handles or knobs on the cabinets, you’ll have to do the same for every other drawer or cabinet in the kitchen if it looks anything like your main cabinets.

If your kitchen has windows, think about changing the window treatment, even if that’s something that won’t be staying.  Make sure the oven is clean, since it’s probably staying, and remove most of your refrigerator magnets, even if the fridge is going with you.  Definitely paint the walls and wallpaper, making them sort of bland and clean looking, especially if you’ve given the kitchen your special touches that include a lot of colors.  What you like might turn off a potential buyer.  This means removing any broken appliances, or any that you might use, but don’t look quite so new anymore.

The other important room is the bathroom.  This is where you might have to pay a bit more money or use more elbow grease.  The same things that applied to the kitchen cabinets apply here.  You’ll definitely want to change the flooring, but that shouldn’t cost much.  The bathtub needs to be cleaned, and if there’s any mold or mildew, you’re going to have to get rid of it, which could be a lot of work.  Also, think about replacing the toilet, or at least the toilet seat.  And the walls will need to be addressed, possibly painted.  And please, make sure all vents are cleaned, since they stand out much more in the bathroom because it’s a more enclosed space.  Pay attention to scents, if you smell anything, potential buyers will smell it also.

The touches you make might be big or they may be small, but all are important if you want to maximize the amount of money you might be offered on your home.