It’ll be spring before we know it (I CANNOT wait) and that means that the real estate market will go through its busiest time of year. It’s the time of year that prices rise, more houses come on the market, and buyers are out in force. If you’re planning to sell this spring you’ll want to spend some time getting your home in it’s tip-top shape so you ‘ll be able to stand out above the crowd, sell quickly and at the top price.

1. Enhance Your Curb Appeal

Spend some time cleaning out and mulching your flower beds. Get a spring fertilizer on the lawn to start greening it up. Sweep all your sidewalks and driveway. If it's early spring you won't have a lot of blooms in your yard quite yet. Consider getting some potted plants for your walkway or front porch. Touch up the paint on the home and outbuildings.

2. Deep Clean Inside the Home

Deep cleaning isn't fun, but it's well worth your time. When a buyer comes into your house and sees old dirt on your blinds and outlet plate covers and baseboards it makes the home feel neglected. We want buyers to walk into a sparkling clean house that feels like it's worth every penny of it's price. While you’re inside staying warm, take the time to clean every nook and cranny - walls, floors, baseboards, windows, vents, everything.

3. Fix Broken Things

Another way your house can feel neglected is the little things that don't quite work, but you never got around to fixing. Take some time to fix leaky faucets and pipes, oil squeaky doors and tighten up their hinges. Fix door locks that don't work, nonfunctional light switches and broken windows. Get the furnace and a/c tuned up and dust them off. Include the water heater too. Make your home run like a well oiled machine. Little things like this can add up in a buyers mind as he walks through or during the home inspection. When the little things work, your house feels loved and cared for and worth the price you are asking.

4. Declutter and Stage

As you're cleaning the home take some time to declutter too. Clean out and rearrange your closets to make them look more spacious. File the pile of paperwork you haven't quite made the time for yet. Put away extra toys that don't get played with often. As we live in our homes we collect things and the more we collect the more we have a tendency to let clutter pile up and make our homes feel smaller. Take this opportunity to scale down and put things away. This can be furniture too. We often decorate our homes with comfort in mind. If you have rooms that feel crowded with lots of furniture, scale it back to show the size and functionality of the room. It will make your home much more appealing to buyers.

5. Renovate?

Sometimes renovating parts of your home prior to a sale makes sense. Sometimes it doesn't. Most improvements you make to a home will net you less than 100% of your investment. The exception to this rule is painting, flooring & cleaning. Spending money on those items typically return over 100% of your money. When you're trying to decide if putting in new kitchen cabinets in worth the expense, give me a call. As a professional I can come in and walk through the home with you to help determine which areas are worth your time and money and which can be skipped. 

As a full service real estate agent, I will come out and walk through your home with you the point out the areas that could benefit from work. I will also provide you with a current valuation of the home and help set goals, expectations and timelines. It's one of the things I do best! 

If you are someone you know is looking to sell a home, give me a call and we’ll get started!