Easy Must Do's Before You Sell

So, you’re thinking about selling your home? As you’re aware, it can take a lot of work to prepare your home to be listed on the open market. Maintaining your landscaping, keeping the counters clean, tidying the kitchen, scrubbing bathrooms and vacuuming floors are some of the obvious (and necessary!) check-list items. However, there are additional important and often overlooked tasks that are easy “must do’s” before you sell your home.

Without further ado, here are “Seven Easy Must-Do’s” before you sell your home!

1. Spackle the Dings in the Walls and Touch Up Wall, Door, and Trim Paint

This is an easy one, but something that a lot of people overlook. Touching up wall dings makes a massive difference. By going through and using  Dap Fast N’ Final Spackle you can quickly patch wall dings without making a mess. Once it dries in a couple hours, lightly hit it with some high grit sandpaper, match your wall color, and you’ll never know it was damaged in the first place! Similarly, if you go through and clean up some smudges on your door frames and trim with a disinfectant wipe, and then touch them up with a matching paint, potential buyers will definitely notice the difference compared to other homes. It’s a quick project but in a buyer’s mind it shows that the home is really well cared for.

2. Power Wash Your House and Patio

And once again, in bold if you didn’t catch that, POWER WASH YOUR HOUSE AND PATIO! There’s no reason that the cleanliness of the outside of your home should not match that of the inside. If potential buyer’s see a dirty house and a dingy looking patio area or cement it can put out a message of neglect. By washing the outside of the house, as well as cleaning up the cement and patio area, you give off a sense of value to the home that otherwise may be lacking. Don’t believe us? Go to google or Youtube and look up some before and afters and then get back to us! It’s amazing!

3. Weed Your Landscaping

While we are on the subject of home exteriors, it’s VERY important to maintain your landscaping! A neglected landscape and overgrown flowerbeds strongly detract from the curb appeal of your home.  Take a little extra time and freshen it up! Giving a buyer a great first impression starts on the outside of the house and carries over to the inside!

4. Make Sure Your House Doesn’t Stink!

Now you may be thinking to yourself “my house doesn’t smell!”, but you have to remember that we all become nose blind to smells and odors. We were recently at a showing and the first thing that we noticed walking through the door was the overwhelming smell of moth balls. Chances are, all of our houses have some smells that we just aren’t aware of. In order to be safe, rather than sorry, leave out some small bowls of baking soda in each room, with fans to help circulate. After that sits for a bit, purchase a few plug-in air fresheners with a mild scent. Now your home smells clean, fresh, and ready for showings!

5. Clean Your Glass

This, again, is a bit of a no brainer but often overlooked. Cleaning window and door glass allows for the best natural light in a home. It gives an impression of regular cleaning and maintenance. Unless your buyer is a property flipper or investor, chances are they’re looking for something that gives off the feel of being loved and cared for. 

6. Make Sure You Dust

We can’t tell you how often we go into homes and see dust. Dust on the trim. Dust on top of the door frames. Dust on appliances. Dust resting on light fixtures. As an agent showing your beautiful home, dust distracts for your home’s great features! Buyer’s notice this as well and will often comment on many areas dust is present. This is a friendly reminder to dust your fixtures, all areas of your cabinets, and in between stair rails. Turn on your favorite music and make it fun! Your agent and potential buyer will be grateful!

7. Clean the Light Switch Covers

This is a really easy one that most people definitely don’t do. No matter how nice your home is or how often you clean, we’re betting it’s rare your light switches and their covers get cleaned. Believe it or not, they’re dirty!! Every time someone touches the plate, oils and germs from that persons hands are left on the plate. Without frequent cleaning, this dirt can cause damage and discoloration to the hardware. While swapping them out for brand new ones actually isn’t that expensive (about a $1.50 per switch and cover set), it’s way easier to just take a disinfectant wipe and clean them. It will make them look newer and it’s just a good health practice overall!

A lot of preparation and work goes into getting your home ready to sell. We hope that by highlighting these “Seven Easy Must-Do’s”, we’ve helped you organize your checklist while not missing the important areas of your home! Making a good impression on potential buyers will help ensure you get the best price for your home!

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Interested in buying or selling your home with the Geenen Group? We’d love to talk with you! Email us through our contact form or call us at (616) 795-0014.