When you put your home up for sale you are hoping the potential buyers feel this is a good place for them to begin their family memories. To accomplish this, a buyer needs to see themselves in the home.
One way for this to happen, is for you to declutter the home. Make the home feel spacious. Start with items that no longer have meaning to you or are no longer functional. Next determine which items may be duplicates of things you have kept “just in case.” Analyze their real value, and usefulness.
The final step to declutter will be to address those pieces that stir memories. It is hardest to declutter the photos and heirlooms that stir your emotions.
Kitchen and baths are areas which can make or break and home sale. Try adding a new plumbing or light fixture in these areas. It can help your kitchen and baths really shine. (pun intended) Make sure to take care of the deferred maintenance issues around your home so buyers will have a positive perception of how it has been maintained.
Let us venture outdoors. Start with a thorough cleaning of the front door, windows, walls, and ceiling. If scrubbing down the front door doesn’t make it visually “pop,” then paint it a color that complements the color of the house.
An easy and fun fix is to find a new doormat with a classy look, often incorporating color that coordinates with the front door. What an inexpensive way to take your curb appeal up a notch! While shopping at the home improvement store for paint and a doormat, be sure to check out the aisle with new house numbers, especially if your old ones are dingy and cannot be cleaned up. If you shop carefully, you can also find reasonably priced door hardware to harmonize with the new house numbers.
Outdoors is as important as indoors. Living in Indiana during the winter you sort of get a pass. Buyers tend to overlook the landscaping of a home during the winter months. That does not mean you should not pay attention to what is the first impression your home will give to a potential buyer.
All the ideas mentioned above are inexpensive and will be well worth the effort when your home sells quickly.
By R. Jones
