1. Make a Great First Impression
You want prospective buyers to fall in love with your home the minute they pull up to the curb or into the driveway. Your lawn should look its best, and your entryway should look inviting. Get a new welcome mat, and consider replacing your exterior lighting. New house numbers and a new mailbox are also nice touches that improve your home’s first impression. You can also add a plant that offers a pop of color to your front porch. Just make sure you don’t over-clutter your entryway.
2. Clean, Clean, Clean
Your home should look immaculate when prospective buyers enter. Everything should be put away, and all floors, counters, appliances and windows should be scrubbed clean. It’s always a good idea to do a deep clean just before your home goes on the market. Then, it’s far easier to maintain that cleanliness on a daily basis as you host showings and open houses.
3. Let the Light In
One of the best ways to enhance your home is through lighting. Let plenty of natural light inside by opening up blinds and drapes. Thoroughly cleaning your windows will help with natural light, too. And make sure that each room is well lit. You may find that swapping out low-wattage light bulbs for high-watt options will help, and you might even add a lamp to rooms or spaces that are particularly dark. When your home is dark, it begins to feel like a cave. And no one wants to live in a cave. Light makes homes feel larger, cleaner and more welcoming — all characteristics that prospective buyers love.
4. Depersonalize
You want prospective buyers to envision themselves living in your home. What you don’t want is your prospects picturing or thinking about you while they tour your home. So consider taking family photos off the walls, and consider removing your kids’ art projects from the refrigerator door. If you have academic degrees up in your office, or if you have a framed poster of your favorite sports team in the media room, consider removing these while your home is on the market. They only serve as a distraction to your prospective buyers.
5. Declutter
One way to make your home feel small is to leave clutter on counters and other surfaces. You may typically leave your toaster or coffee machine on the counter, because you use each daily. You may leave your toothbrush next to the sink. And you may leave coffee table books and remote controls on the large ottoman in your living room. But this clutter isn’t going to help sell your home. Put those items away for now, and focus on creating the right impression for your buyers rather than focusing on your own daily convenience.
6. Thin Out Closets and Cabinets
You want prospective buyers to fall in love with your home the minute they pull up to the curb or into the driveway. Your lawn should look its best, and your entryway should look inviting. Get a new welcome mat, and consider replacing your exterior lighting. New house numbers and a new mailbox are also nice touches that improve your home’s first impression. You can also add a plant that offers a pop of color to your front porch. Just make sure you don’t over-clutter your entryway.
7. Stay Neutral
Your home is a place where you should be able to show off your unique personality. Some homeowners choose funky wallpaper or bold paint colors, and there’s nothing wrong with that. But, when your home goes on the market, funky wallpaper and bold paint can be a distraction. There’s good news here, though: Replacing wallpaper and/or repainting are among the easiest and least expensive updates you can make to your home. Consider going with something more neutral when your home goes on the market, as neutral is the best way to appeal to your target audience.
8. Balance Your Living Spaces
You don’t want to go too far in decluttering your home. For example, if you go too far in decluttering your furniture, your home will look barren and as if no one lives in it. Instead, shoot for balance, especially in oft-used spaces like living areas. One trick you can use for balance living rooms is this: Arrange the furniture so that no piece backs up to a wall. When you arrange your furniture without any of it touching a wall, it makes the room look more spacious, and it forces you to keep only the right number of pieces for perfect balance.
9. Make the Master Gender Neutral
You want to appeal to the largest audience possible, which is going to include men, women and families. That's why it's important to stay gender neutral, especially in shared spaces like master bedrooms. Think about a couple making a home-buying decision. You want to appeal to both equally, and you want each to feel like your property is the place where they want to live for the foreseeable future. One of the best ways to generate those emotions equally between the two is with a gender-neutral master.
10. Consider Minor Updates
If you want to take an extra step with staging, consider making some minor updates that can have a major impact on your home’s attractiveness. Just a few examples:
- Stainless steel appliances can make an average kitchen look extraordinary.
- Pedestal sinks can make bathrooms look much larger.
- A new front door can help make a first impression that sells.
You can choose to make all sorts of minor updates to your home. Just make sure those updates will provide a return on investment. Find a qualified real estate agent who can help you make update decisions and help you evaluate whether those updates will pay off upon resale.
Are Your Selling a Chicago-Area Home?
For your home to sell quickly and for its maximum value, it needs to look its best the moment it goes on the market. And that’s one of the KlopasStratton Team’s specialties — making sure your home is ready to make a fantastic impression on prospective buyers. Are you thinking about putting your Chicago-area home on the market? Or, has your home lingered on the market without getting the attention it deserves? If so, let the KlopasStratton Team help. Contact us today about selling your home quickly and for its maximum value.
