Tip Tuesday: Easy Ways to Make Your Home More Appealing to Buyers

What reaction does your home give in the first 5 minutes?  How can you ensure that those first 5 minutes don’t turn away a Buyer but instead make them more interested?

Here are a few ways ways to make your home more appealing.

1. Smell: What smells does your home give?  Is the pet odor too strong?  Did you just cook a heafty meal?  Is something in the recycling bin making a smell? Does that candle really smell good to everyone or just you?  Eliminate odors.  If anything, consider a light essential oil that yields calmness and relaxation such as lavender. Think about smells before a showing.
2. De-clutter: This isn’t just about your closets and cabinets, but your everyday living.  Stay on top of laundry; don’t leave an unfolded bin out.  Have dishes cleaned and put away constantly.  Have shoes placed away.  Clean up leaves and dirt near the entryway.  Don’t let Buyers get distracted by how you live.  Have them pay attention to your home and it’s potential to be their home.
3. Curb appeal: Even in less than appealing weather, your home can give off great curb appeal.  Paint the front door and trim, ensure the garage doors aren’t dented or chipping, and keep walkways clear.  Immediately shovel snow from the walkways and steps so it doesn’t ice over.  Stay on top of the leaves.  Add wreaths to windows, lights to trees and a lovely welcome mat outside.  All of these things say warm and inviting versus cold and stand-offish.  Plus, it shows care to your home and attention to detail, which tells a Buyer that you’ve taken care of your home; thus, making it more appealing to them.
4. Update Lights and Locks:  Nothing is more aggravating than a difficult lock.  If the Buyer’s Realtor is having a hard time opening your lock, a Buyer is immediately frustrated that the lock isn’t working.  Don’t make that a point off of your home.  Update the locks and ensure that they work easily with the key you’re leaving.  Also, don’t forget to change all of your light bulbs.  With it getting dark earlier now, it can be harder to see so ensure that all of the lights are working.  Does a light switch hook up to a lamp rather than an overhead light?  Ensure that there is a lamp functioning there.  Don’t make it difficult just for them to see your home. They may think you’re hiding something.
5. Know Your Home:  How old is the roof?  When was the last time the furnace was serviced?  Have you done any updates in the past 5 years?  Are there special taxes on your home?  If you have well water, is city water available on the street?  Knowing all of these things gets questions answered faster, makes your home more attractive and gets you an offer.  Don’t let a Buyer find another home in the 5 days it took you to get them some answers.  Know the answers immediately.  This is where choosing a good Realtor is helpful.  A good Realtor will help you anticipate what questions will get asked and have those answers immediately ready for Buyers.

It’s not easy work and requires daily maintenance and attention to detail to get your home sold.  However, the good news is that by combing the main elements of making your home more appealing, pricing your home appropriately to the market, and hiring a good Realtor, your home should sell in no time!

Thinking about selling?  Use our free home evaluation tool!