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Home
- Inside Your Home
The best advice about Home
Selling Miracles.
Now that the outside has been adequately beautified, and
you've mastered curb appeal, it's time to move on to the inside of your home.
Just like there was a lot of little things you could do to
make an overwhelming difference to the outside of your home, there's lots of
great projects you can tackle inside, without having to spend a great deal of
money.
While the whole home is very important, the two primary
areas for sprucing up should be your kitchen and bathroom. The following tips
will guide you through the inside of your home in general, and then progress to
each area of your home, to make sure that you're maximizing its potential.
The world of real estate is becoming more sophisticated in
its understanding of what sells. In this sense, there is a much better
comprehension of how we can spruce up our homes for sale. In fact, there are
actually people who have made an occupation of just this study and this task.
There is a whole knack to being able to properly
“stage” a home these days. Fortunately, it while it is an extremely
effective effort, it is not one that takes a large amount of money. It's just a
matter of improving your current surroundings.
The key is to look at your home not through your own eyes,
but through the eyes of the prospective buyer. Look at your home as though
you've never been there or seen it before in your life.
Think of it as romancing your buyer with your house, so
you'll want to set the mood.
Clear out excess furniture and accessories from the interior
of your home as much as possible. If a piece of furniture is too big for the
room, or is crowding the room, put it in storage, have a garage sale, or give
it to a deserving charity.
This also goes for decorations, oversized stuffed animals,
and other items that you may have collected over the years. Anything that takes
up space should be considered, and if it's not necessary, you'll want to clear
it out.
Nothing is more effective at opening up a house than getting
rid of clutter. It will look immeasurably more spacious without all of your
extra things in the way.
Pay special attention to keeping hallways and doorways
clear. Not only will this make the prospective buyer feel that they will be
purchasing a more spacey home, and can easier imagine their own things inside
of it.
Go through your house and clear off all of the horizontal
surfaces, kitchen counters, and bathroom countertops.
This means that you won't be leaving any magazines,
knick-knacks, or other various items to add to a cluttered appearance in your
home. Either pack them or get rid of them in some other way.
Your home should smell good. When this comes to selling the
house, it means that there should be no noticeable odors. Make careful attempts
to get rid of the following smells:
H Pet odors
H Stale cooking/food smells
H Cigarette smoke
Smell makes an enormous impact on people when they enter a
home. Furthermore, while smokers and pet owners may not even notice the smells
in their home – having become quite accustomed to them – they may be
an overwhelming turn-off for potential buyers.
In this case, have a non-smoking, non-pet owning friend come
over to perform a sniff test.
While it used to be recommended that you bake bread or steam
cinnamon potpourri before a potential buyer is to come through, it's no longer
recommended. The same goes for spray air fresheners.
If you insist upon adding a scent to your home, make it a
very – repeat, very – lightly scented candle, or
scented oil. However, it's better not to scent the home at all.
The best way to get rid of scent problems in a home isn't to
cover them up, but instead, it's to remove them at the source. Recommended
techniques for accomplishing this include:
H Scrubbing the house
H Having the air vents cleaned
H Replacing old, smelly carpeting
H Smoking outdoors
Just like you, buyers are lazy when it comes to having to
take on large projects within the home. They want to be able to move in and be
happy with what they've bought.
If your property is in need of work, such as the following,
you should tackle them before the potential buyers get to see it, so that all
they will picture is moving day, not all the work they'd have to put into the
home.
H Old, dated wallpaper
H Ratty carpeting
H Cracked or peeling paint
H Cracked, broken, or missing tiles
H Other similar projects
Most people will want all of the important work done before
they move in. They don't want to have to worry about tearing the place apart as
soon as they get their stuff inside.
They want to buy a home, and not remain unsettled for a long
time while they bring the place to the level that they consider to be livable.
With each change that they prospective buyer calculates that
they'd have to make to your home; they'll become just that much more concerned.
When it comes to selling your home, you need to make it your priority to
assuage these concerns.
Are families with babies and/or young children a part of
your potential market? If they are, then you need to ask yourself if you would
put your own child on your floor and let him or her crawl about.
In the case of having your house pass the baby test, go for
cleanliness first. Make the following efforts for approval from the perspective
of a judgmental parent:
H Floors looking clean enough to eat off of,
H Carpets looking and smelling fresh,
H Walls free of grimy smudges and handprints
Of all the impacts that your home can have on your buyer,
cigarette smoke is the very last one you'd want. This doesn't just mean the
smell – which, as we discussed in tip #15, is quite offensive to potential
buyers – but the look of ash trays (even clean ones) and smoke stains on
walls, cupboards, and otherwise.
This is also true for burn holes in carpeting and
upholstery. Sure, you're not selling your furniture, but the furniture that is
there will leave an overall impression, so make certain that they don't show
signs of smoker's damage.
For the majority of buyers, they won't even want to tour a
home if it is currently owned by a smoker. With that in mind, make sure to get
rid of any “evidence” of your habit.
While this book is not about preaching to quit smoking, for
all intents and purposes, your home should appear as though you've never smoked
in it a day in your life.
Store all of your ash trays out of sight; clean all of the
walls, ceilings, and other places that have smoke stains, and replace or cover
any fabrics, carpets, or upholsteries that have burn holes.
If you must smoke, do so outside, and make sure that you're
not smoking in front of an open window that will simply let the smoke back in.
In the world of real estate, there is a huge difference
between an old home, and a classic home. It's comparable to the idea of used
clothing versus vintage clothing; only on a much grander scale.
If your home is about 40 years old, with 40-year old paint
and wallpaper, 40-year-old appliances, and 40-year-old carpeting, then you have
an “old” house, which is hard to sell.
On the other hand, if you've shown that you've maintained
your home with an overall established look, but which has been kept fresh and
up-to-date, this is a “classic” home, which is a very appealing
style.
The major kinks of the new home have been worked out, the
neighborhood is settled, and it has been maintained well enough that
“falling apart” won't be a major issue.
Two major things that your potential buyers will be looking
for in your home include light and space.
Sure, it's alright to have one room that is a bit on the
darker side; however, if the entire home is dark, that should be considered to
be a problem.
When people will be viewing your home, open drapes and
blinds, turn on all of the lights, and add lights to darker rooms.
If Mother Nature doesn't feel like being helpful on the day
that people will be viewing your home, use flowers and other similar things
that will suggest sunlight.
Your goal is to make your space look crisp, sharp, and
vibrant. Your home should be a happy space inside which the prospective buyer
wants to spend more time.
Most buyers will have a professional home inspection done
anyway, but if you do it ahead of time, then you can take care of any necessary
repairs even before it goes onto the market.
Depending on your area, and what kind of home you have, this
will probably cost between $200 and $400 to have done, but it can be well worth
the effort.
If you're not certain who to hire, ask your real estate
agent, and he or she will be able to recommend several quality inspectors.
It's true; color is very popular when it comes to walls.
However, there is a problem; you and your buyer may not have the same taste in
what colors are best on walls.
Paint is a relatively easy and inexpensive way to give your
home a fresh new look, and if you're going to put in the effort, you may as
well do it right. Before selling, you'll want to stick to neutrals.
White, beige, and cream may seem pretty boring, but despite
this fact, they are the best for creating an easier sale.
Remember also that white reflects the most light out of any
color, and therefore it will make the rooms appear the largest.
If you have carpet, it's wise to have it shampooed to remove
any stains or smells that may exist. If that doesn't work, then you'll likely
have to get rid of it.
If your carpet is dirty looking, soiled, or stained beyond
rescue, then your only alternative is to get rid of it. Instead of replacing it
with carpet, think about wood or laminates, since they're better selling
features.
Wood and laminates make your home look more spacious, and
people like to see woods and laminates more than carpeting when they're looking
at homes. As an added bonus, these types of flooring are much easier to keep
clean than carpets are.
If you have any kinds of “loud” decorating that
makes a statement or that is controversial, you should take it down.
Examples of controversial decorating are a deer head on the
wall, or a bear skin rug.
These items may be attractive or fun in your eyes, but there
are many people who will find this a complete turnoff.
This is the same for books and magazines that you might have
lying around. If you're not sure, the best thing is not to display them, in
case something might be offensive or simply unattractive to prospective buyers.
Peeling wallpaper should be removed immediately and replaced
with a fresh coat (or two) of paint.
This is especially important in bathrooms. Here, you should
either paint a neutral color, or the lightest color that will match the
existing tile.
This is the same for kids' rooms. If they need a fresher
look, then go with colors that are as neutral as possible.
That way, while buyers look at the house, they'll be looking
at the home for itself, not for your own decorating abilities. Furthermore,
this allows them more of a shot at imagining the way their things will go into
the space.
While no buyer will expect that your closets will be
perfectly neat or empty, but they are looking for a large amount of storage
space for their own things.
To help with this impression, the rule of thumb is to take
everything out of your closet, and only put half of it back in. The rest of the
stuff will need to find a new home; in the garbage, the clothing donation
charity, or packed in your suitcases.
The reason for doing this is that partially empty closets
look much roomier than they may really be. And remember, it's space and storage
that sell.
The same can be done for your kitchen cabinets and other
storage areas. An added bonus is that when you're done sifting through your
stuff to get half out of the closets, you'll already have gotten rid of a lot
of things that you'll no longer have to move.
Moreover, if you've packed up the extras, that's work done
that you would have had to do sooner or later anyway.
Fresh flowers in your house will give it a healthy, clean,
and bright look, without spending a fortune.
If you have the money, you can add a professional
arrangement full of exotic flowers to a room in your home.
However, if you'd rather splurge on other things, then you
can always go for a cheaper flower. The important thing is that they're fresh,
healthy, and in warm colors.
Affordable fresh cut flowers include:
H Carnations
H Daisies
H Pompons
H Irises
H Freesia
H Asters
Consider having the colors not only match the room, but the
season.
For example, springtime is a great opportunity to use pinks
and purples, summer is fantastic for reds and bright yellows, and fall is great
for oranges and pale yellows. In the wintertime, anything bright and happy is a
good idea.
If you have flowers in your yard that can be cut, it's
pleasant to have some in the house. This not only ties the inside and the
outside, but it gives your home an authentic happy and fresh feeling.
Just be certain that you don't cut so many that the outside
gardens have bare patches!
If it's mild enough outside – that is, if it's cool
enough in warm weather, or warm enough in cool weather – you might think
about opening up the windows.
This will bring the fresh air in, and will be wonderful for
making the air breathable, and getting rid of any “home” smells that
you may not even notice, but may be obvious to the prospective buyer.
Be careful about the temperatures in which you open the
windows. If you make it too hot or too cold inside, then the prospective
viewers will feel uncomfortable, and therefore won't attach themselves quite as
well.
Moreover, a too-cold house will take away from the welcoming
feeling you're trying to instill in the home, and a too-warm house will make
the house feel smaller than it is, and will make the prospective buyers want to
leave faster. Naturally, that's not what you're going for.
When people look to buy a home, they're being extremely
picky and observant about every little thing. That being said, you don't want
to lose a sale just because you have a cobweb in a basement window.
Therefore, it's a good idea to go over your home with a
“white glove” to ensure that it is spic and span. Pay special
attention to elements such as:
H Dust
H Cobwebs
H Trash
H Grunge
When people are looking for houses, it's very, very rare
that they'll only see one or two houses. Therefore, if you're going to have a
number of people view your home as they look at a dozen or so other homes, you
need to make sure that yours is the one that stands out in their minds.
Of course there are good ways to stand out, and there are
bad ways. The bad ways must be avoided at all costs. The good ways, however,
should be aimed for with great attention.
Think about it: if you were to see five houses today, and
another five a week from now, all with very similar features, how much would
you really remember about each individual home?
The odds are, you'll remember the one that had some special
little detail; maybe it's the one with the pink roses on the kitchen table.
Not only will this sort of little thing make your home more
memorable, but it will also let your house rate higher among the others.
It's like the “hook” that marketers aim for in
commercials and other advertising. It's something different and positive that
sets your home apart from other houses.
Remember that as much as you want to maximize your selling
potential, you don't want to be so extreme that you've not only wasted your
time, but you've overwhelmed those who will be viewing the home.
If you go too far, the house will look so staged that it
will feel artificial. You want your buyers to feel that they could move into
the place, not that they should stay behind the red velvet ropes.
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