The Seller's List of Easy Fix-Ups

Another Great Post By: www.SaraHibbard.com

The Seller’s List of Easy Fix-Ups

Historically, just as birds build nests, springtime tends to be the season where homeowners consider listing their home for sale.   If you’re thinking about taking the plunge, the condition of your home will have a huge impact on how fast it sells, and its eventual selling price.  Preparing your home for sale can pay you huge dividends.  Many fix ups cost very little and require only time and elbow grease.  Here are some tips to help your home show it’s very best and yield a huge benefit.

Indoors:

1.       Clean the entire home.  This means vacuum and shampoo carpets.  Vacuum and wash walls, remove cob- webs, clean window sills, blinds, and draperies.  Clean out and wash light fixtures.  Dust all wood surfaces and shelving.  Make 2-story foyers look inviting, spic and span.  Get detailed and do deep cleaning.

2.       Clean and remove clutter from all closets, cupboards and cabinets.

3.       Make your rooms look as spacious as possible.  This can be accomplished by removing unnecessary furniture and items that make your home look cluttered and crowded.

4.       Arrange furnishings so it is easy to walk through your home.

5.       Scale down the number of photos, pictures, portraits and posters hanging on walls.  Don’t forget to patch all nail and screw holes.

6.       Take Drapes and Comforters to the dry cleaners.

7.       Natural light is very important in showing off your home.  Keep your curtains, blinds and draperies open as a rule every day.  It’s important that buyers see your home as light and bright.  Find ways to screen any unappealing views.  

8.       Make your kitchen shine.  Remove all clutter from counter tops and cabinets.  Pack things up that you don’t need.  Remove coffee pots, toaster’s, blenders from counter tops.  Store appliances in pantry, basement or send to storage. 

9.       ALWAYS keep your kitchen sink clean and free of dirty dishes.

10.   Clean and organize your refrigerator inside and out.  Take all the little trinkets, kid’s drawings, magnets off the side of the refrigerator.  Clean off the top of the refrigerator.  Make sure you do simple things like placing an open box of Baking Soda inside the refrigerator and the freezer.  YUP.  Buyers will look in the refrigerator too.  They need to envision their dinner stored in the refrigerator.  If it doesn’t show well, this could cost you an offer.  I’ve seen it happen too often.    

11.   Clean your oven.  Clean around the burners.  Degrease it and keep it looking as good as new.

12.   Keep scented candles burning in the kitchen and bathrooms.  Pleasant fragrances will entice buyers to stay longer in your home. 

13.   Keep bathrooms scrubbed and tidy with fresh soap and neatly displayed towels.  Try to color coordinate your bathrooms and make them look inviting. 

14.   Keep all sinks in the home clean and repair any leaks or slow drains.

15.   Go through the entire home and paint and / or touch up spots that need attention.  Pay close attention to corners where there is high traffic wear and tear.  Touch up baseboards, trim, cabinets and cupboards.  Clean up scuff marks on hard wood floors, baseboards, and kickboards.

16.   Place plants or fresh flower arrangements in strategic parts of the home.   A splash of color from plants, flowers, pillows or small rugs can give your home some real flair and look very attractive to visitors.

17.   Use mirrors on walls if necessary to reflect light and make rooms look larger.

18.   Make sure that all door knobs and keyed entries are working properly.  Replace any worn knobs or handles. 

19.   Paint or replace any doors that show signs of wear, scuff marks, or holes.

20.   If you have a door that also has a cat door – replace the whole door.  

21.   After you have cleaned out closets, the kitchen, game room, bedrooms, basement, decide which items will be sold in a garage sale, distributed to Goodwill, or packed for the move.   Distribute these items accordingly, but get them out of the house.  

22.   Pack up items and store boxes in the garage, basement or rent a storage facility.  Begin transferring items now.  You have to move anyway, so start removing items now. 

Outdoors:   

23.   Clean up the yard.  Rake and remove leaves, weeds and other debris such as piles of wood, firewood, and landscaping debris. 

24.   Pressure wash the entire house. 

25.   Trim hedges.  Trim around mailboxes, planting beds, sidewalks, and driveways.

26.   Trim all hedges, bushes and shrubbery away from the house.  The buyer’s inspector will likely require that greenery is removed from touching the house.  Keep all garden beds weeded and mulched with either pine straw or wood chips.

27.   Keep all walkways clear, clean and in good repair.  This includes your driveways and any parking areas.

28.   Keep the front yard free of bicycles, skateboards, balls and other outdoor toys.

29.   Clean all exterior lighting fixtures.  Clean and polish front door kick-plates, brass door knockers.  Consider painting the front door and replacing the front door knobs and locks.

30.   Clean and paint the mailbox.  Clean your address numbers too.

31.   Keep all outdoor furniture clean and in good repair.

32.   Don’t leave ash trays or evidence of ash trays. 

33.   Clean your gutters, soffits and roof.  Keep gutters free of pine straw, leaves, sticks and other debris. 

34.   Repair any broken windows, screens, shutters, awnings or doors.

35.   Clean your garage area.  Remove clutter and organize the garage to appear spacious.  Your goal should be to have only cars in the garage.  Hang and store bikes, lawn mowers, trimmers/weed wackers, toys and sports equipment.    Buyers are often impressed by garage floors that have been painted and sealed.  Often something that simple creates a “WOW” factor!        

36.   Wash windows, screens.

By following these 36 fix up tips, you’ll increase the perceived value of your home and maximize interest.  If you follow these tips your home will undoubtedly stand out from the competition and yield a speedy sale.

Sara Hibbard is a licensed Realtor in the state of Georgia and works in the north Atlanta metro area.  Regardless of whether you are a buyer or seller, Sara looks forward to answering your many questions regarding the selling and buying process.  Sara is easily reached at 404-660-2481 OR via e-mail at sara@SaraHibbard.com.  Visit Sara anytime at www.SaraHibbard.com.  Sara Hibbard is Glad Georgia Real Estate Is On Your Mind!