Comments on: 25 tips to prepare your home for sale

By: Erika

Erika — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 22:39:43 +0000

I definitely agree with these suggestions. As a future home buyer, I’ve been casually looking, but don’t plan to buy for at least a year, the difference between cluttered and uncluttered homes is striking. The second I see clutter in a real estate listing, I immediately get turned off. It could be a great space, but clutter obscures it and makes each room look much smaller.

By: jen at vickyandjen.com

jen at vickyandjen.com — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 16:14:18 +0000

Staging is SO important! You don’t need to pay a lot – you can do most yourself if you do some research.

We got the real scoop from HGTV’s stars from “Secrets That Sell”. Donna and Shannon Freeman share simple staging strategies on our podcast show. Here is the link: http://www.vickyandjen.com/podcast_051.html

Or you can find our show What Really Matters on iTunes. We also did a show Moving Made Simple: http://vickyandjen.com/podcast_076.html

It is surprising to learn some of the tricks that can help sell, and things that will keep potential buyers away…
Enjoy.
Jen at vickyandjen.com

By: lana

lana — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 16:12:40 +0000

Ugh, Wendy, I feel for you. I hear a lot of people complain about homeowner’s associations, but we specifically bought our house because it belongs to one and we’re able to avoid situations like yours.

If you’re on good terms with the neighbors, try going over with a plate of cookies, explain that you’re in the process of selling, and they’d be doing you a great favor to have their yard tidied up. Offer to pay, if that’ll help grease the wheels.

If the neighbors can’t be reasoned with, consult a good landscaping architect and try to block their house from view as much a possible.

By: Wendy

Wendy — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 13:25:38 +0000

What do you do when it’s your neighbor’s house that prevents yours from selling? I’ve decluttered, cleaned, keep everything nice, yet they don’t pick up their trash, have their Christmas lights still up and junk piled up around some very unkept dog kennels. I’ve filed complaints with the code enforcement, but nothings been done.

By: Emma

Emma — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 10:58:51 +0000

I love these tips. Most of them are something you could do without wanting to sell your house. Why make your house nice just before you sell it? Do it now and enjoy your hard work!

By: sjwilde

sjwilde — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 02:23:03 +0000

I’ve been trying to sell a house this summer, and there’s another perspective, particularly in this market. Obviously everything that’s free or cheap is worth doing, but I haven’t been willing to sink in a lot of money upfront because of the chance of the house not selling this year and then being out a lot of money with no way to recoup it.

My realtor told me there are some things that will almost certainly need to be done before a buyer can get a mortgage, like a new roof, but that these could be done after finding a buyer and paid for out of escrow.

I think the wisdom of not spending on stuff upfront is especially wise for a house like mine, which is at the lower end of the market. My realtor is marketing it as a “light fixer.” It hasn’t sold yet, but I doubt stuff like painting would have made a difference, and following all 25 suggestions would have put me in quite a bit of debt.

By: STL Mom

STL Mom — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 00:13:00 +0000

Professional staging can be very expensive. We had bids of $3500 – $8000 to stage our house this past winter.
We chose instead to declutter and use what we had. Off-site storage was money well spent, but on moving day I pulled out an entire van-load of stuff that went to charity instead of the new house. And now that I’ve moved, I have another huge box of things to donate. I wish I’d been more aggressive about decluttering a few months ago.
I completely agree that everything, inside and out, needs to be sparkling clean. After pressure-washing, our sidewalk was a whole new color.
Also, if you don’t have time to strip wallpaper, paint over it. Most of our negative feedback was about wallpaper. When we bought the house, almost every room was papered. When we left, there was still paper in two bathrooms and part of the basement. Even that was too much for some people. For them, wallpaper is visual clutter.
Also, remove religious artwork. I went to an open house where the living room featured a huge portrait of Jesus in a crown of thorns, with blood dripping down his face. It did not make me feel at home!

By: Lori

Lori — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 20:13:38 +0000

@Elizabeth, that’s a great link! Thanks for sharing.

By: Michele

Michele — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 17:36:10 +0000

Thanks for the link to the great list. It is a helpful perspective even if you are not selling.

By: Missi

Missi — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 17:15:50 +0000

I’ve also heard you should remove most family photos so the potential buyers can see themselves living there, not you.

By: Elizabeth

Elizabeth — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 16:53:44 +0000

Here's an entertaining look at people who listed their houses and forgot to declutter (or even clean) beforehand: http://lovelylisting.blogspot.com/

By: Jim Gaynor

Jim Gaynor — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 16:49:59 +0000

Having sold a house fairly recently, here are the bullet points I’d have:

Unclutter: Rent a storage space. Then go through your house and put a post-it note on the items that need to STAY. Everything else should go to storage. This goes for the garage, the garden shed, and the yard.

Clean Inside: After you unclutter the inside, clean it like mad. Or hire a service to do a deep clean.

Clean Outside: You can get a service that will pressure-wash your drive/sidewalks, low-pressure wash your home exterior, and wash the windows. Does wonders – you’d be amazed at the grime that goes away.

Clean Yard: Pay for a low-end yard service to come in and do a “yard cleanup”. They should mow, edge, trim, weed, and clear away brush.

Yes, this all costs money up front. But you’ll get it back in a better price on your house and/or a quicker sale. Actually – the hardest part is sometimes looking at the post cleanup-unclutter house and saying to yourself, “now, why I am moving out?”

By: harris

harris — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 16:20:16 +0000

Excellent ideas. Also, don’t forget the exterior clutter from porches, garage and yard. Toys and tools should be neat and, of course, clean.
Make sure your house smells good. Bake cookies or heat cloves in water in the microwave. Artificial odors like air fresheners and sprays usually aren’t so good.
Neutral colors throughout help buyers see themselves and their furniture in your house.
Sellers need to remember you don’t sell your home the same way you live in your home. You have to make changes and it really is all about perception.
First impressions are HUGE!

By: Mariana

Mariana — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 16:01:19 +0000

This is excellent information. I also provide a the services of a professional stager for each of our seller clents … It makes a WORLD of difference.

By: Kathi D

Kathi D — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 15:46:28 +0000

In this tough selling market, I would pay to have my house “staged” professionally. I have a feeling it would more than pay for itself, although my experience of it is limited to what I see on HGTV. What do you think?