If you have sold a home

flyingsaucer

Any words of advice? We are putting our house on the market this week!   We bought the house 7 years and 2 kids ago and we are in desperate need of more space.  I am so nervous about all of this tho!

bumpuser260585

Good luck. We are putting our house on the market this spring. The only advice I have is from HGTV. Take down personal picures and keep your house clean.

suv75

Declutter every room and closet. If you can, try to go for neutral decor and paint to have it look fresh, open and airy. Realtors will have good suggestions or you can hire a stager if you are not good at staging. Have the house deep cleaned and keep it clean and mess free. Good luck!

monkiem

Declutter.  No personal photos or mementos.  Only absolutely necessary appliances on the kitchen counter (coffee maker is fine...mixer is not).  Make sure NO personal information is visible on the calendar, next to the phone, counters, etc. 

Keep a box handy so you can quickly pick up any [new] random crap while running out the door if you get a call to show the house at the last minute.  

Make the house available to show at last minute.  A lot of people, unless they are looking particularly on that street/neighbourhood, etc., will not wait to look at a house.  There is A LOT of competition.

A bit of mess is fine - particularly if you have a toddler.  No stains, no big stuff though.  We once looked at a house where two small boys lived, and their bedrooms were fvkking trashed.  I mean...they were WRECKED: holes and dents in the walls, etc.  Not only did it look terrible, but it made the house look as though it was made out of paper for 'breaking' that easily.

Take down artwork from the walls and the fridge.  Patch up any holes/dents/scratches in the walls.  Paint a neutral colour on ALL walls.  A swiss coffee colour, or just a nice, warm, off-white.  Some people are willing to put in some elbow grease, while others are not - but are willing to pay what they have to, in order to NOT do a single thing but move in.  If you have hardwood floors, give them a deep clean with a wax finish or whatever - they will show better, and will be easier to keep clean after the fact.

Wipe down surfaces as you go.  This way, you're not cleaning like a maniac when people want to see the house.

Curb appeal - fancy and ornate gardens may look nice, but most people shy away from a property like that because they don't want to upkeep it.

 

monkiem

Ah, and something a lot of people appreciate (at least around here), is having a little bit of information about the family selling the house, the memories coming with it, etc., as well as property information.  Include any remodels, major fix-ups, stuff like that.  Of course, make sure that any 'remodels' talked about, are legal, and have permits on record.  Nothing worse than having a closing fall through at the last minute because there was no permit for that back porch.  lol

I've had a lot of friends have success selling those homes with the House Story newsletter.  They put in memories, things like "my daughter took her first steps here, this is the home we brought her home from the hospital, etc., we love our home, but have outgrown it, blah blah".  Something short but sweet.

But maybe an assessor's map, showing roughly where the property lines are, and whether or not there's a fence, electric or not, etc. That's helpful if you live in an area where there are no fences, but decent-sized properties.

Eleventy11

GhostMonkey:

monkiem:

Ah, and something a lot of people appreciate (at least around here), is having a little bit of information about the family selling the house, the memories coming with it, etc., as well as property information.  Include any remodels, major fix-ups, stuff like that.  Of course, make sure that any 'remodels' talked about, are legal, and have permits on record.  Nothing worse than having a closing fall through at the last minute because there was no permit for that back porch.  lol

I've had a lot of friends have success selling those homes with the House Story newsletter.  They put in memories, things like "my daughter took her first steps here, this is the home we brought her home from the hospital, etc., we love our home, but have outgrown it, blah blah".  Something short but sweet.

But maybe an assessor's map, showing roughly where the property lines are, and whether or not there's a fence, electric or not, etc. That's helpful if you live in an area where there are no fences, but decent-sized properties.

HELL NO! That could very well be the worst possible advice ever. Nothing like making it seem like someone else's home and you are intruding on their space and their memories. There should be nothing of that at all anywhere. No pictures, nothing personal. Neutralize all colors, remove all clutter.

 

I totally agree with this. We are currently searching for a house...I don't care at all about your memories. I don't want to picture it as your house. I want to envision it as mine. Clutter and knick knacks are the biggest turn offs. My husband won't even go look at houses that look messy or cluttered in pictures.