Selling Your Home – Do’s and Dont’s

Selling your home can be a tricky venture, even with the best of agents. If you think your home will sell itself with only a quick cleaning, you may be setting yourself up for failure.

One of the most common mistakes is that your home is priced too high. There are a number of ways to establish the true value of a home. The goal is to get people into your home. To do that, it needs to be in an accessible and reasonable price range.

Other top reasons for a lack of interest are the look, feel, and smell of your house. The odor of a house rivals appearance in first impression. As a longtime owner, you may be accustomed to the scent of pets, smoke, or mildew. Get an objective opinion from a neighbor or friend and take steps to eliminate off-putting odors. One secret for open houses and walk-throughs – have cookies baking in the oven, creating a sweet, homey atmosphere.

Too much clutter is another no-no, but even more so is having your home look too much like, well, you. Buyers want to be able to see themselves in the house – not you. Create a blank, but stylish, slate. Replace personal pictures with mass-appeal art or mirrors and repaint rooms with natural and neutral tones.

From there, make sure your home is ready to be shown. Give it a thorough cleaning, from windows to baseboards. De-clutter, clean the carpets, and fix any minor repairs – leaky faucets, cracked windows, loose doorknobs and chipped tile. This is someone’s fresh start – make sure they don’t shy away because it looks run down.

Lastly, don’t go it alone. Selling a home yourself may seem easy enough, but unless you’re experienced, you’re putting a lot at risk. A licensed and knowledgeable agent can help with all the aforementioned steps, as well as marketing, negotiations, and a slew of other potential issues. Most importantly, though, an agent will get potential buyers in the door.