The ten most important things to do before listing your
home for sale:
1.
Repaint the front of the house. Repaint any
rooms with scuffs or dirty walls in a palette that highlights the style of your
home. Painting can be the least expensive pick me up to the appearance of a
home. There are a number of online painting programs that are helpful in
choosing colors that will work with your architectural style, the existing
stone or brick and landscaping. Check with your homeowner association’s rules,
in Orange County California where I live many associations are enforcing color palettes that
are very restrictive. Paint websites:
Pratt & Lambert my favorite paint for the colors:
2.
Unclutter every room. Reduce the number of items
on countertops to three or four. Have a garage sale and get rid of clothing
crowded in closets and things you are saving in the garage. Think the opposite of the television show "Hoarders." List the sale on
Craig’s list and have a male attend the one day morning sale with you. Post cardboard
signs around the neighborhood early in the morning before 6:30 AM. The rummage
sale is only from 7:00 AM- 11:30 AM and have Salvation Army or your favorite
donation truck prearranged for pick-up the items that did not sell, and save
the receipt for income tax deduction. Take a photograph of the items donated so
you will remember what you might itemize.
3.
Take everything out from under the sinks, under
the washing machine and behind everything and clean and scrub to the floor and
walls of the house. Every surface is going to get scrubbed. Use up all the cleaners you have stored under every sink and hidden in the garage. Think cheap and make your own from supplies you already have at home. Simple cleaning
solutions are probably already in your home:
Spray Cleaner for
windows and glass: cups water, 2 Tbsp. rubbing alcohol, ¼ cup distilled white
vinegar, 5 drops lavender essential oil (optional, for scent) ½ Tbsp. liquid
castile soap
Cleaner for tubs
and showers: 2 tsp. borax, ½ tsp. liquid castile soap, ½ cup distilled white
vinegar, 3 cups hot water.
No mildew stains on anything. Wash the shower
curtains in your washing machine on gentle or purchase new ones. Organize kitchen cupboards and start using everything
down to reduce the amounts of dry foods, canned foods and clean the refrigerator
top and bottom. Empty fireplace ashes and clean out the whole fire surround. If
you have firewood outside stack it neatly away from the home.
4.
Plant annual color around front entrance to add to curb appeal,
choose smaller pony packs of six rather than the four inch pots and get these
in the ground now for a head start. Take a look at my Pinterest Curbside Appeal
http://pinterest.com/carolinegerardo/curbside-appeal/
listing of homes in different styles that seem to welcome a buyer to enter. Having
landscaping that frames the home and leads the eye in can be a simple matter of
trimming your existing scrubs and arranging some pots.
This Laguna Beach home has sweet peas, iris and annuals to greet you at the curb. Doesn't this little cottage look welcoming?
This Laguna Beach home has sweet peas, iris and annuals to greet you at the curb. Doesn't this little cottage look welcoming?
5.
Check your bedrooms for smoke detectors. In California, and
other states, it is required to also have a carbon monoxide detector. Save
yourself the trouble of paying for “reinspection” costs. An appraiser or home
inspector might add a couple hundred dollars and a few days to your timeline.
Avoid such delays of proving you have these necessary items at closing. Having
a professional inspection before you list might also give you a target punch
list of items you can cheaply repair and be aware of ones a buyer or bank
lender might ask you to complete. Be aware that accepting an offer with an FHA
loan is going to have more sticky repair requirements than an all cash deal.
6.
Clean up pet areas and create a plan to kennel or have dogs “babysat”
at a friend’s location when you have an open house. Although you adore your
dogs and cats and critters they have odors that you might not be aware of and these
might offend a potential buyer. Buy two spray bottles of Fabreeze for shoes,
closets and fabrics in your home. The light spraying of these an hour or less
before someone enters the home makes your residence neutral to a new buyer. You
are not selling your personal lifestyle, you want to appeal to a variety of
types of people. Realtors have long known that even baking toll house premade
cookies can make a home smell appealing. A simple warm aroma can be
accomplished by boiling an orange peel with cinnamon for five minutes. This is
easier and safer than candles.
7.
Shop for a Realtor. There is a difference between a listing or
buyer’s agent. Many focus on one side of the business. Who is running
advertisements for home like yours? Not necessarily the Real Estate agent who
sold your neighbor or sister’s home. Research your neighborhood online and see
who pops up in the first page, who can still afford to run newsprint and magazine
advertisements and the visibility of the firm or agency they work with. Find
someone who you believe you can trust and who communicates in a style that
makes you feel well taken care of and will price the home correctly.
8.
Box up personal photographs, any offensive images or strange
artwork. Your objective is not to show off your private life, but have a buyer
see themselves in your home. Remove any medications in the medicine cabinets
and lock them up. Remove jewelry and put in a safe deposit box.
9.
Oil and lubricate anything that squeaks and
make sure doors close easily.
10. Advise your family that they must do the
dishes right after eating, make their beds neatly every day and keep the front
lawn looking perfect. Getting in the habit of being tidy in morning is a healthy
and life changing simple pleasure. A new welcome matt with a coir or rough surface
is a good suggestion to wipe the feet of all your new visitors.
Next article is how to get your self ready to move- fine tuning your FICO score and taxes to be able to qualify for a home loan. Thanks for reading- C. G. Barbeau, the loan lady. Mortgage home loans to suit your needs