Preparing your home being sale ready

Where to Start: Begin to Prepare your Home for Showing

“You never get a second chance at a first impression.” We’ve all heard this expression
before. And now, while you are preparing your house to sell, it should not be far from
your mind.
While logical factors such as price and location narrow the pool of houses a potential
buyer will look at, the ultimate decision to buy a particular house is fuelled by a mixture
of logic and emotion. And emotion often wins out. The same might be said for the
process of selling a home. For this reason, Real Estate Agents, when they talk to you
about buying real estate, will refer to your purchase as a “home.” When discussing the
sale of your current home, however, an agent will refer to it as the “house.” This is a
conscious choice. The agent knows that buying a house is often an emotional decision,
while, when selling a house, emotion should be separated from the process.
Buyers are searching for a “home”—a place in which they will feel comfortable, secure,
and happy, a place in which they can imagine settling down and raising their family. As
a seller, your goal is to cultivate these feelings through the property you’re selling. Look
at your house as a marketable commodity. A buyer’s emotional response is triggered
early, so you want to ensure you have done everything you can to encourage a positive
response to your house from the outset. Within minutes—even seconds—of pulling into
your driveway, buyers have formed an impression that they will carry with them through
the rest of the showing, and beyond. Keep in mind, this impression will not only
influence whether or not they make an offer, but also what they consider to be the value
of the property.
If you’ve ever visited model homes, you’re familiar with effective presentation styles.
Have you ever walked into one of these homes and immediately begun taking stock,
planning how to get your home to look that good? Well, now is the time to take some of
these steps. Of course, there are ways to achieve the same effect in your own home
without incurring model home costs.
When homes create this immediate type of emotional appeal, they tend to sell quickly—
and for more money. Use the following step-by-step guide to get your house into selling
shape before you put the property on the market, and you’ll be well on your way to a
successful sale!

1. Depersonalize.
   This should be one of your first steps when you begin preparing your house to
   sell. Over the years, a home inevitably becomes tattooed with the owners’ lives,
   covered with touches that have made it that special place for you. At this point,
   however, you want buyers to recognize it as a property they could make into
   their unique place. When a homebuyer walks into a room and sees these
   personalizing touches—such as photos on the walls or trophy collections—their
   ability to picture their own lives in this room is jarred, impairing a positive emotional response. So, your first step will be to remove all the family photos,
   the trophies, collectible items, and souvenirs. Pack them all together, so you’ll
   have everything you need at your disposal when it comes time to personalize
   your new home. For the time being, rent a storage space and keep these items
   there. Do not simply transfer these items to another place in your house. Do
   not hoard them away in a closet, basement, attic, or garage, as the next step in
   preparing your home is to minimize clutter—and these areas of your house will
   all be targeted.
2. Remove all clutter.
   The next step on the list is to purge your house of the excess items that have
   accumulated over the years. This is the hardest part for many people, as they
   have an emotional investment in many of these things. When you have lived in
   a house for several years, a build-up of personal effects occurs that is often so
   gradual that you don’t notice the space is becoming cluttered. If you need to,
   bring in an objective friend to help point out areas that could stand to be cleared.
   Try to stand back yourself and see your house as a buyer might. Survey
   shelves, countertops, drawers, closets, the basement—all places where clutter
   often accumulates—to determine what needs to go. Use a system to help you
   decide: get rid of all items, for example, you haven’t used in the past five years,
   and pack up everything that you haven’t used in the past year. Although getting
   rid of some things might be hard, try to do it without conscience or remorse.
   You’ll be forced to go through this process anyway when you move, and with
   each box you eliminate, your storage space and the room in general begins
   to look larger. We’ve broken down the process into specific areas of your house
   to help you concentrate your efforts:
   Kitchen:
   The kitchen is an ideal place to begin, as it’s easy to spot and eliminate the type
   of clutter that tends to accumulate here. Homebuyers will open your drawers
   and cabinets as they’ll want to check if there will be enough room for their own
   belongings. If the drawers appear cluttered and crowded, this will give them the
   impression there is not enough space.
   • First of all, remove everything from the counters, even the toaster (the
   toaster can be stored in a cabinet, and brought out when needed).
   • Clean out all the cabinets and drawers. Put aside all of the dishes, pots
   and pans that you rarely use, then box them and put them in the storage
   unit you have rented (again, not in the basement or a closet).
   • If you, like many people, have a “junk drawer,” clear this out.
   • Get rid of the food items in the pantry that you don’t use. Begin to use
   up existing food—let what you have on your shelves dictate your menus
   from now on.
   • Remove all extra cleaning supplies from the shelves beneath the sink.
   Make sure this area is as empty as possible. You should thoroughly clean this spot as well, and check for any water stains that might indicate
   leaking pipes. Buyers will look in most cabinets, and will notice any
   telltale signs of damage.
   Closets:
   • Go through all clothes and shoes. If you don’t wear something anymore,
   get rid of it. We all have those clothes, too, that we wear only once in
   awhile, but can’t bear to give away. Box these items and keep them in the
   storage unit for a few months.
   • Go through all other personal items in the closet. Be ruthless. Weed out
   everything you don’t absolutely need.
   • Remove any unsightly boxes from the back of the closet. Put them in
   storage if need be. Get everything off the floor. Closets should look as
   though they have enough room to hold additional items.
   Furniture:
   • You may want to tour a few model homes in order to gauge the type of
   furniture chosen by design teams to create a spacious, yet comfortable
   atmosphere. Note how that furniture is arranged to cultivate a certain
   feeling.
   • After having armed yourself with some ideas, stand back and look at each
   of your rooms. What will you need to remove? Remember, most homes
   contain too much furniture for showings. These are items that you’ve
   grown comfortable with and that have become incorporated into your
   everyday routine. However, each room should offer a sense of
   spaciousness, so some furniture will likely need to be placed in storage.
   Storage Areas:
   • Basements, garages, attics, and sheds: these are the “junkyard” areas of
   any given home. It is possible to arrange simple clutter into a certain
   order, but junk is sent packing to these often-hidden rooms. First,
   determine which of these boxes and items you actually need. Can some of
   it be sent to the dump once and for all?
   • Hold a Garage Sale. You’ve heard the saying, “One person’s trash is
   another’s treasure.” Let these items go to a better home.
   • Transfer some items to the rental storage unit. You’ll want to clear the
   storage areas in your house as much as possible, in order for them to
   appear spacious to potential home-buyers. Buyers want the reassurance
   that their own excess belongings will find places for storage in their new
   home