1.      Find a Great Real Estate Agent

Find an agent that you have a good rapport with.  Then check their qualifications like number of homes sold in the last 12 months and get referrals. Also, find out what they will do to market your home. Will they put it on the internet, social media, and the Multiple Listing Service?  Will they take professional photos? Do they answer their own listing appointment phone calls? Ultimately, no matter how qualified they are, you want them to take the time to listen to you and be able to treat you the way someone should be treated when making one of the largest decisions of their life. Selling and moving are emotional circumstances.  Make sure your new realtor can be empathetic when it’s needed.

2. Consider Your Curb Appeal

Believe it or not, buyers do tend to judge a book by its cover. Painting your front door, cleaning up the front yard and some inexpensive landscaping can go a long way, like colorful flowers.  If you have a front lawn, make sure it gets mowed regularly so that the home looks well kept.  People will decide how well you take care of your home based on that first impression. Pressure washing your concrete can also be a good thing if you want to go the extra mile.  For tips on how you can maximize your curb appeal, speak you your real estate agent.  After all, they’re the professionals with lots of experience on what helps and what is unnecessary.

3.      Declutter Living Areas

Removing items that aren’t necessary from your living spaces is important for a few reasons.  It helps prospective buyers to envision their own things in that space rather than being overwhelmed by stuff.  Additionally, it makes those spaces look bigger. This is important since more square footage is always desirable.  Especially in today’s work at home environment. If you have a pantry, organize it. It will go a long way to making everything look appealing. And lastly, a more orderly space is going to be more aesthetically pleasing.  Buyers want to be looking at the home, not the clutter.

4.      Depersonalize Your Space

Removing things that are specific to you will help buyers to see themselves and their family there.  Taking down family photos may seem excessive to some but it will help if their envisioning their own family in the home instead.  Put away pet items. Not everyone wants pets, and some may consider it a turn off if you have one in your home.  You never know how personal someone may consider your pets to be.  Put away toys.  Toys are not esthetically pleasing, and they can be a trip hazard.  Let people enjoy how nice your home looks rather than look at your kid’s toys.

5.      Repaint Walls to Neutral Tones

The bright colors in your home may be appealing to you but remember that you’re wanting to appeal to the masses. Neutral tones give potential buyers a blank canvas so they can imagine their favorite colors on the walls. Also, a neutral pallet will make the space look bigger and brighter. Today’s trends are light greys with white trim but that’s another great question for your realtor.  Or you can find tips online for paint colors. Regardless, it’s a relatively inexpensive way to make your home feel more updated and freshly painted walls are a draw.

6.      Touch Up Any Scuff Marks

Scuff marks on trim, doors and walls can make your home look worn down.  Make sure you match the touch up color well and freshen up anywhere you see them.  Especially in high traffic areas and areas that will draw the eye like entry ways or large empty wall. This is also an inexpensive way to give buyers the impressions that the house is well maintained.  Plus, it’s something you can do yourself in very little time.

7.      Fix Any Loose Handles

Again, loose handles on doors and cabinets give the impression that you don’t maintain the home.  Tightening those up takes little time and effort and you can do it yourself. Virtually nothing is off limits when someone is viewing your home and you can bet; they’ll open doors so make sure everything feels solid.

8.      Conduct a Smell Test

This one sounds funny, but smells can be a deal breaker.  Musty smells make buyers think that there’s been water where there shouldn’t be.  Food smells can be a deterrent and cigarette smoke is a big one.  Buyers may think that it will be impossible to remove an odor and decide, based on the smell test, that they don’t want to purchase your home.  You may have gone nose deaf to your home’s particular smell so invite a friend over who will tell you the truth about the way your home smells.  This is a big one people.  Stinky is not good!

9.      Clean, Clean, Clean

Another biggie is the cleanliness of your space.  Some sellers will hire professional cleaners to clean their house regularly while showing their home.  The pros know what people see often and they’ll ensure that those things always look good.  If you’re going to clean it yourself, no problem, just make sure that it’s done thoroughly.  Do one really deep cleaning before your house goes on the market.  Have your carpets and windows cleaned so they look and smell fresh and people see the sun shining through, not the dirt on those windows.  Most buyers won’t buy a home if it doesn’t look clean to them.  Another potential deal breaker.

10.      Consider Staging

I can’t speak about this one enough.  Professional stagers will make your home look like just the perfect space by putting in furniture which is specifically designed to make the rooms look larger and accessorizing to make spaces look more appealing.  Some realtors even offer this service for free.  Making sure that there isn’t too much furniture in a room or that the size of the furniture doesn’t overwhelm the room can make a world of difference.  Blending colors and using colors and styles that are up to date make a difference.  The way your house is staged can make it more appealing to more buyers rather than only appealing to the buyers who like your specific style.  It will also freshen up the spaces and, if done correctly, looks great in the photos shown with your home listing.