It's a good day when I walk into a potential listing and the house is already in "show condition." As soon as I walk in, all I can think is yes! Unfortunately, this phenomenon does not happen very often. Most of the time, sellers need a little guidance to get their home in the proper shape for selling. A good REALTOR will help the sellers try to see their home from the eyes of a buyer. There are two major areas that need to be addressed, and they are the obvious ones - inside and outside.
Before a potential buyer can even see what the inside has to offer, they have to see the exterior when they drive up to the house. To maximize the curb appeal there are a few things that can be done easily and for just pennies.
1 - Move all materials, including garbage cans and gardening supplies from the yard (front and back) and store in a shed or garage.
2 - Mow the lawn, weed-eat, edge sidewalks, and pull weeds from all flower beds and planted areas.
3 - Replace any exterior light bulbs that are not working, including flood lamps and security lights.
4 - Sweep all walkways, steps, decks, patios and porches. Remove all small items from porches and decks.
5 - Try to remove all stains (oil, rust, mold, children's chalk, etc.) from the driveway and sidewalks.
6 - Replace worn or stained welcome mats.
7 - Remove spider webs from porches, decks, under eaves and from shrubs and bushes.
As you can see, none of these items are cost prohibitive, they just take a little effort. To be such inexpensive and relatively easy tasks, you would be surprised how many homes are on the market right now, that have unappealing curb appeal. Failure to do these simple things can result in missed opportunities to impress potential buyers. I can't tell you how many times I have been out showing properties and pull up to a house and my clients say "that's ok, we don't need to see this one." After pressing them for an explanation it becomes clear they feel if these sellers can't take care of the outside, they probably don't take care of the inside. Now, let's move on to the interior of the home. The five things that need to be done to the interior to get it in "Show Condition" are:
1 - Clean
2 - De-clutter
3 - Stage furniture
4 - Let the light in!
5 - Mood music
The main thing that any seller needs to do when preparing to have their property shown is... CLEAN IT! When I say CLEAN IT, I mean give it a deep cleaning. Not just the lick-and-a-promise that most of us do every week in our own homes. I mean dust the tops of doors, ceiling fans, lamp shades, tops of picture frames, basically every surface needs to be dusted or wiped down. The other area that people tend to omit or pass over is the baseboards. The dirt and grime that gets on the baseboards and in the corners of the shoe-molding makes a house look older than it is. This is one of the areas that potential buyers will notice and cause them to turn to me and say "this house needs a good cleaning!" This item takes a little bit of extra effort because it may require a toothbrush and result in sore knees, but it will be well worth it.
Getting a home in show condition always requires de-cluttering. If you have 10 things sitting on every flat surface or table-top, I usually suggest to my sellers to take everything off and put back 3 things that look nice as decoration. Put the rest of the nic-nacs and family pictures in the attic or in storage. If you have too much of your personal stuff sitting around, potential buyers cannot envision their own stuff in the house.
De-cluttering also pertains to kitchens. They are not exempt. Take all magnets and pictures off of the refrigerator. Also take all small appliances and cooking supplies off of the counter tops. This includes coffee makers, toasters, croc-pots, spice racks, etc. Counter tops are considered a work space. The more junk you have on your counters the smaller the work space looks. I have seen buyers pass on a house they otherwise liked because there was so much clutter in the kitchen the buyer's perception was that it was too small.
Now that the clutter has been removed, room-flow and floor space need to be considered. Furniture should not be overbearing in a room. Furniture should not block pathways and should not choke a room.
If there are huge pieces of furniture in a room that is too small to accommodate it, take a couple of pieces out and put them in storage. If furniture overfills a room, it makes the room look smaller than it really is. Furniture should be placed in such a way as to invite flow from one room to the other. Staging the furniture is not as easy as it sounds. That's why designers get paid the big bucks. Without going to that expense, a good professional REALTOR® can usually provide some guidance in this area.
The next thing for the interior, is to let the light in!!! Open the blinds, open those drapes, raise those shades. If you know you have a showing scheduled, turn on lights in some of the key rooms before you leave (foyer, family room, dining room, kitchen and master bedroom, etc.). Houses that appear to be light and airy always appeal to potential buyers more so than houses that are dark and dreary. This item is so easy and yet so overlooked.
There is one last thing to be done as you're walking out the door before a scheduled showing; put some mood music on the stereo and turn it down low. Light jazz or light classical works well. This sets the tone when the potential buyers walk in the door. It will be obvious to the buyer that these sellers are serious; they take pride in their home and know what they're doing. That's all there is to it. These tips were easy to do and not cost prohibitive. Now your home is in "Show Condition" and your chances of getting an offer (in a timely manner) just went up tremendously!
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