Get The Home Ready

The process of showing and selling your home can go much more smoothly if you get everything ready. Find out how to get your home ready to impress buyers for the best offers and the top price for your home.

Preparing your home for sale is a bit like designing a stage for a play. Everything is in just the right place, perfectly arranged, and comfortably set.

There are television shows like Designed to Sell focused exclusively on, not decorating a home, but getting an otherwise drab, cluttered, boring house ready for a quick and profitable sale. Homes that are properly prepared sell faster and at a higher price than similar, unprepared homes.

The professional organizaton, Staged Homes trains real estate professionals and other interested individuals in the art of “Home Staging” and issues a certificate as an “Accredited Staging Professional ™.”

Just what do “Home Stagers” do and how can their theory help you sell your home?

Get out the cleaning supplies, boxes, and get ready to sell your home fast! You’ll love how easy it is to transform a languishing, slow-moving home into a quick salewith just a bit of elbow grease and an eye for beauty.

You may be lucky and just need to do some long-neglected simple home repairs, get rid of clutter and add fresh flowers. Or you might have to repaint or recarpet your home to give it a fresh look. If you’re handy, you’ll be able to do most things yourself. But you may need to hire a plumber to install a new faucet in the kitchen or other professional to replace outdated light fixtures or window treatments.

You need to keep in mind that you’re not going to make the changes to live in your home. Your only goal is to show your home at its very best to potential buyers. Without being distracted by clutter and dirt, they’ll be able to picture themselves in the home you’re trying to sell. They will find it hard to resist making an offer.

If you’re skeptical about the benefits of going to all this work or doubt that it will make any difference in selling your home, put yourself in the place of a home buyer.

Have you ever toured through a development of model homes? The paint is fresh, appliances are shiny, there is artwork arranged around the house, and fresh flowers stand on the kitchen counter. Mirrors are sparkling, towels fresh, and there are no toys on the floor. The rooms look spacious and the furniture comfortable.

The kitchens and bathrooms are polished, smelling fresh, and clutter is not to be seen. The closets are empty or organized. The garage floor is clean and neat and looks much larger than you’d need for two cars.

Now leave the development of models and go down the street where the homes are several years old. Children’s toys are stacked in the family room. So many boxes are piled in the garage that you couldn’t park even one car there. Clothes fill the bedroom closets and boots and mittens fill the hall closet. The house isn’t dirty, but there are dishes in the kitchen sink and toothpaste stuck on the bathroom vanity. Homework is spread out on the dining room table. The family dog is yapping because of the strangers in the house and the floors are scratched. Dead plants “welcome” you at the front door.

With all other things being equal, which house would be more appealing to you? Of course, the first one! The homes may be the same size, but because of the clear layout, the first home seemed much larger. The house was prepared to show off all the good points and none of the bad.