Six Ways to Make Your Home a Desirable Buy

Do you want to know how to present your home to attract more buyers and get the best price? 95% of buying decisions are emotion-based so it’s vital to present your home to appeal the senses of prospective homebuyers. This property talk blog post has six simple steps you can take to make your home a desirable buy, including:

• Property inspection
• Checklist per room
• Cleaning schedule
• Fix or replace
• Renovation

Use a fresh pair of eyes to inspect your home and provide feedback on what’s good and bad and what needs improvement. Your prospective homebuyers will be looking for reasons not to purchase your home when they view it, so now is the time to know what’s wrong with it and what you can do to minimize negatives and accentuate positives, so your home viewings generate many interested buyers.

Checklist

Staging your home for sale requires it to be in a satisfactory condition with everything in working order. Start with a checklist. Do your homework regarding the current condition of all areas, appliances, and amenities of your home – inside and out. Remember, curb appeal is paramount to get buyers through the door.

As they approach your home, what a buyer sees determines their first impressions, and you will want them to love what they see. So be objective and a little harsh in your assessment of every room, wall, floor, and so on.

While assessing, avoid getting emotional and focus on what a homebuyer wants from your property. What is your goal? To sell your home for the best price, let’s see how you can do it.

1. Amenities

Does your home have a pool? Use this amenity to your advantage when selling. Big families who have lots of parties or guests will love this feature.

Keep the pool in immaculate condition before showing it to anyone. Always clean after every visitor.

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Use your home amenities to close the potential sale. Some people want a sauna, a shed in the back, or a large backyard. Whatever amenity your home offers, promote it big time. Stage your outdoor areas – even if you have never used them much. You’re selling the dream – outdoor living for parties, dining, and relaxing.

2. Maintenance

Here’s the time to make sure everything is in good working order. There’s nothing wrong with showing people the receipts of the maintenance you have done in your home, mainly if it’s an older property.

Hire maintenance to inspect a property, fix any mechanical item that doesn’t work well, or replace it.

Ensure toilets, the water system, air conditioning, or the MWE track for the barn door works well. Superior home maintenance creates a lasting impression on potential buyers. They will see what doesn’t work, even items you’ve not bothered to use. This is why you will need an objective third party to do the once over of everything from doors to kitchen cabinetry.

Everything must work, even if it’s not modern, and it needs to work.

3. Cleaning, Painting, Flooring

You’ll see what surfaces need painting or wallpapering and the actual condition of the flooring once you’ve done a deep clean. Not everyone enjoys cleaning, so hire a cleaning crew to practice cleaning homes ready for sale. Curb appeal – yes, you must clean your property’s exterior and interior, including the windows.

When was the last time your windows were cleaned? They’re easy to overlook, but prospective homebuyers will notice dirty windows, sliding or french doors, and skylights. You don’t want them to be put off buying your home due to dirt!

Paint everything

Once the ceilings and walls are clean – do you need to repaint rooms? Paint is relatively cheap to buy, yet it is transforming and smells good. Who doesn’t love a fresh paint job in any room?

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Paint everything if you have time – inside and out. Use modern neutral colors that are fresh and make rooms look bright and new.

Replace flooring

Nothing feels as good underfoot as a new carpet. Your home viewings impress homebuyers when they smell the fresh paint and feel the new carpet underfoot. Also, replace hard floor coverings that are damaged or worn.

4. Declutter, Stage

Suppose you can – move out of your home before opening it for home viewings. Once your furnishing and stuff are gone from the property, it will allow a home stager or interior designer to stage your home. They will bring in furnishings to create desirable rooms. Remember, you’re selling the dream! If this is not viable, then at the very least, remove all clutter from rooms.

Keep your home looking simple, comfortable, and welcoming. Clothes stacked in closets, near the couch, or the corner are inappropriate.

Clean up your kid’s room and any home offices. Have a family meeting to work together to manage their clutter before buyers walk into the house. Take excess items to a shed or garage, but don’t make it look like a mess. Less clutter in a home allows buyers to see the beauty in your house.

5. Pet Smells

More people own pets for companionship and are very much part of the family – living indoors.

However, these furry babies can stink, but you’re not aware of it as you’re used to the smell. A new buyer will pick up on whether you have three or four cats just by the scent lingering in your house – this is if you don’t take action to eliminate all pet smells before the home viewings.

Before a buyer enters your home, have a friend come over to see if they can smell your pets. Pet smells are a big turnoff to buyers because they fear the odor will not go away.

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There are other tricks to make a room smell pleasant. Use smelly candles and infusions, painting as mentioned above. Also, consider the smell of baking bread and coffee brewing. These are the feel-good smells that homebuyers love.

6. Lighting Fixtures

It’s easy to neglect light switches and fittings. Make sure every light works and the shades are clean and look good. Where possible, replace the switches so they are new – or give them a deep clean.

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Modern light shades can transform a room. Take photos of rooms with the lights on to give them a lighter and warmer ambiance.

Summing Up

Plan your pre-sale project so your home is in peak condition. Remember curb appeal – make sure your home looks as good as it can from the curb. Is your home exterior clean and the gardens looking good? Create that outdoor living space and make sure everything works.

Stage your home and get your real estate agent to promote any amenity you have that homebuyers desire; this includes pools, saunas, a three-car garage, a barn, or a safe garden for children to play.

Ready to read more tips? Try this article on – Are you selling your home with personal property?