Showing and selling a home doesn’t need to be a slow and tiresome process. Knowing what to do to set the stage for a quick house sale ensures the sale process doesn’t drag on forever, and that you get your preferred asking price. Preparing for a house sale is more like developing a stage for an upcoming play.
All items will need to be comfortably set, perfectly arranged, and placed in their correct positions. Read on to learn how you can get top price for your house by designing it properly.
1. Boost Its Curb Appeal
Enhancing or boosting curb appeal is something you should learn to hear, and read, as you prepare for the sale. A person who is planning on booking a tour of the house on sale will first begin by doing a quick drive-by. What they see when they first lay their eyes on your house will determine whether they are going to come back for an in-person tour.
You can start preparing for a quick house sale by making the home ready for onlookers using the following tips:
- Stain or repaint your porch floor
• Power wash the walkways and the siding
• Thoroughly clean the front windows
• Place easy to read house numbers on the front door
• Add or reseed fresh sod
• Plant fresh greenery and blooming flowers on your yard
2. Think Seasonally
Decorate the house according to the season at hand. If selling during the autumn or winter seasons, try to ensure the fire pit is not only clean but ready to go at a moment’s notice.
Consider simmering some hot apple cider on your stove, and to leave a burning fire in your fireplace to give a cozy vibe to the visitors.
For the summer season, ensure the lawn is mowed and that the garden is in great shape.
3. Welcome All Visitors Using an Inviting Porch
Just because your house has a tiny stoop isn’t to mean you can’t make it more inviting. Placing potted plants in full bloom and a clean doormat will help you say “welcome home” to all the visitors.
If there’s enough room on the porch, consider adding a few pieces of furniture. In the evenings, leave the porch lights on, in case some of the interested buyers decide to do a drive-by after work.
You can also add an extra touch by illuminating the front walkway using solar lights.
4. Clean the House
From scrubbed grout to clean counters and gleaming windows, you should ensure that all the surfaces in your house are sparkling clean. Cleaning is perhaps the easiest, if not cheapest tip you can use to get the house ready.
Clean surfaces help to give the house a good first impression. For a thorough cleaning job, consider calling in cleaning professionals to handle the difficult areas. It also makes sense to hire pros when the house is large.
Cleaning is one area you can’t afford to skimp on, more so if you want to sell fast!
5. Use Any Extra Rooms Wisely
It’s not uncommon for homeowners to use spare bedrooms as preferred dumping grounds for boxes of junk and the odd furniture pieces. Any such room that has been used in this manner should be cleaned up as soon as possible.
As you are cleaning it, think of the different ways you can use it for the duration of the sale. You can also think of some of the possible things that potential buyers may want to use it for, e.g., a second kid’s room, an office, or even a guest room.
The possibilities are endless. If the reason you haven’t been using this room is that you don’t have enough furnishings, invest in inexpensive furniture items, borrow from friends, or even lease some.
6. Get Rid of Clutter
Any homeowner who is serious and committed to staging or decorating their houses will have no option but to get rid of clutter. Although the process isn’t easy, eliminating clutter is always worth the trouble.
The items you don’t require for the time being can go to off-site storage space. Alternatively, you can also have a friend hold them for you as you wait to sell and relocate to a new address. Ensure you purge all items that are unsightly or unnecessary.
Clean and clear closets, cupboards, and other surfaces will appear as additional space from a buyer’s eyes. Everyone wants more space in their houses! So getting rid of clutter will work in your favor.
7. Call in Decorating Pros
If you don’t have enough time to do all this on your own, call in some staging pros. Hiring a staging or home decoration expert is the same as hiring any other professional. Call around and request for referrals from people in your circle who have used such services in the recent past.