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When homebuyers are looking to purchase a new home, they often see the obvious flaws as a huge project that they don’t want to take on, despite the fact that many of the flaws are easily remedied. In the era of HGTV, most buyers are looking for a move-in-ready home, somewhere they can imagine themselves living comfortably from day one. So the question becomes, what can you do to make your home more appealing to buyers, to help them imagine themselves in YOUR home, in order to drive traffic and maximize your sale? Here is a list of the top 10 things you can change about your home to make it more appealing to buyers.
Landscaping. Whether you hire a landscaper, have family or friends help out, or do it yourself, the front yard is important. Curb appeal is the first impression the buyers see when they arrive at your home. This is especially important in Minnesota where our seasons and weather can really abuse our yards. Keep gutters clean, powerwash your siding or at least wipe down the front entrance of the home. Put away kid’s toys, remove debris, dead vegetation, and animal waste. Mow the lawn. Mulch is a great low-cost, high-impact addition to your yard. We’ll make recommendations to add simple touches like flower pots and planters to bring a pop of color and make the yard look well cared for. If you’re selling in the winter, we can add seasonal planters to bring a touch of green.
Tidy up! A clean home is a happy home! Nothing will sell your house faster than making it look spotless. Sometimes, this isn’t the easiest to achieve or maintain, so if you can’t deep clean before every showing, at least be sure to remove clutter. When you think you’ve removed enough clutter, remove more. Do not put it back out after a showing either. When it’s gone, it’s gone!
Depersonalize. Buyers will pay the most for a home they can immediately envision themselves living in. They just don’t want to feel like they are moving into someone else’s home. We recommend storing almost everything that makes the house feel like your “home”... pictures, religious décor, memorabilia, dramatic artwork… put it in storage. And then declutter some more! Getting rid of everything nonessential can really help make spaces feel lighter, larger, and more open. Our team is outstanding at helping identify how to best depersonalize, declutter, and streamline the look of your home to get the most interest and the highest offer.
Make minor repairs. Patch holes in the walls, fix leaky faucets, fix doors that don’t close properly, and fix drawers that jam. If a buyer sees a lot of minor details that have been neglected, they may start to wonder what they can’t see that hasn’t been maintained. It doesn’t always make logical sense, but a good rule of thumb is that a $50 actual repair by the seller can “feel” like a $500 expense to the buyer if it’s not fixed.
Repair, repaint, and stage entries.Inspect the entry to your home with the eye of a critical stranger. A sagging screen will give buyers the impression of neglect. A fresh coat of paint on the front door can change an entire opinion about a home. Think of those first few minutes a buyer is standing in your entry for a moment, looking around with a critical eye while their agent fumbles with the lockbox.
Eliminate the smells! Smells can be a deal killer…and unfortunately, you might not notice them. Pets, smoke, and other unpleasant smells in your home can cause major issues when a potential buyer walks in. Deep clean with bleach; re-caulk cracks between sinks, tubs, toilets, counters, and scrub floors to get rid of mold and mildew smells. If the home smells like smoke, there’s even more work to do. To rid walls of smoke and nicotine film, some experts suggest washing the walls with cleaners using an alkaline builder, such as ammonia, and a glycol solvent (found at paint stores). Try painting an undercoat of Kilz primer onto clean, dry walls to seal in nicotine smells. For any home, the smell of fresh paint is usually the very best smell to have lingering in the air. And don’t forget to change out your furnace filter to further freshen the air in the house - this little fix can have a big impact.
Replace damaged, stained, or worn flooring. Luxury vinyl flooring, new carpet, or cork can be very cost effective modern flooring choices. Our team can help with recommended contractors, styles, and timelines. At the very minimum, pay for a professional carpet cleaning.
Redo your walls. Painting walls is often the best option when it comes to selling your home. Wallpaper can be a turnoff because it’s so personal to the homeowner. Painting with a neutral color such as greige or soft white creates a light and bright canvas for your buyer’s imagination. Trends today definitely show that light and bright sells!
Update the bathroom! Repair, clean, and update with modern touches. Updating faucets or lighting fixtures can really pay off. A classic bathroom with new fixtures and white, fluffy towels looks a lot fresher and more welcoming. Unfortunately a dirty or dated bathroom can really trigger the “ewwww, gross” factor for a potential buyer. (Would you want to visit a friend’s bathroom if it looked like yours??) Bathrooms are a top improvement focus area to help you sell your home.
Kitchen remodels. Kitchens can pay off, and many buyers make decisions based entirely on this area, especially since the kitchen has become a hub and gathering place in people’s homes. Outdated kitchens are a turnoff to 90% of buyers. Floors, countertops, appliances, and lighting should ideally be updated and/or repaired. Buyers base a lot of their decision on the kitchen. This is also an area where a buyer will think about the inconvenience of living through the remodel - they would much rather just have it ready to go. Of course you might not want to live through a remodel either, but it’s a good thing to consider - especially if you’re planning to move out before you sell your home. Even if your house is in good shape overall, if the kitchen is really ugly, it could be a deal breaker for a lot of buyers.
This list isn’t all-inclusive, but it will give you a good starting point of things to consider. If you want specific ideas and suggestions for getting your home ready to sell, please contact me. It’s better to have the conversation sooner than later, so that you put your time and effort into the things that will maximize your home’s value, and skip the rest! One huge value in working with ME is that you get access to my incredible TEAM, including a dedicated staging and design professional with a great eye and tons of experience in how to maximize the value in your home! And if you do decide you want to tackle some projects to increase value, our concierge service can help you manage everything about your home improvement project, from recommendations to bids to timelines to financing to quality control.
I’m excited to share my thoughts with you and help you come up with a plan to maximize your home’s value.
Get assistance in determining current property value, crafting a competitive offer, writing and negotiating a contract, and much more. Contact me today.
Working with Juli has been fantastic. She embodies two key qualities that make her exceptional. First, she is an amazing listener-she truly understands and allowed me to articulate my needs, then delivered exactly what I was looking for. Second, she is incr...
Julie is an exceptional real estate professional who truly goes above and beyond for her clients. She's driven, a go-getter, and incredibly intelligent, always ready to advocate fiercely on behalf of those she represents. Working with Julie means having a d...
Juli is an absolute gem. Her warm and kind demeanor, paired with her unwavering drive and commitment to helping her clients make the best decisions, truly sets her apart. She is a standout Realtor who genuinely cares about her clients' needs and goes above ...
Juli was incredibly attentive and diligent about meeting our house needs. She went above and beyond for us in finding a new place and selling our current one. She advocated for things we didn’t even think to ask for. I would highly recommend her as a realto...
Juli Schmidt is as bright, driven, and capable a realtor you’ll find! She’s great with people, kind-hearted, but still has the business sense to drive a hard bargain when she has to. A wonderful person and definitely someone you can trust to sell your home!
Juli is a wonderful person. She brings a welcoming sense of energy and warmth to every room she enters. She is extremely intelligent and anybody who gets to know her is a deeply lucky individual