Getting Your Home Market Ready

Follow these tips to prepare your home to get sold quickly.

Separate Yourself From Your Home

• Prepare your mind - "This is not my home. My home is in the memories. This is a house, a product to be sold."
• Make the mental decision to detach your feelings and focus your energy on the fact that soon this house will no longer be yours.
• Picture yourself handing over the keys and envelopes containing appliance warranties to the new owners!
• Say goodbye to every room.
• Don't look back, look toward the future.

De-Personalize

Pack up those photographs and family heirlooms. Buyers can't see past personal artifacts, and you don't want them to be distracted. You want buyers to imagine their own photos on the walls, and they can't do that if yours are there! You don't want to make any buyer wonder who's living there now, you want them imagining their life there.

De-Clutter

People collect an amazing quantity of junk. Chances are, if you haven't used it in over a year, you probably don't need it.

• If you don't need it, why not donate it or throw it away?
• Remove all books from bookcases.
• Pack up those knickknacks.
• Clean off everything on kitchen counters.
• Put essential items used daily in a small box that can be stored in a closet when not in use.

Think of this process as a head start on the packing you will eventually need to do anyway.

Rearrange Bedroom Closets and Kitchen Cabinets

Buyers love to check things out and will open closet and cabinet doors. Think of the message it sends if items fall out! Now imagine what a buyer believes about you if she sees everything organized. It says you probably take good care of the rest of the house as well. Some examples are:

• Alphabetize spice jars.
• Neatly stack dishes.
• Turn coffee cup handles facing the same way.
• Hang shirts together, buttoned and facing the same direction.
• Line up shoes.

Rent a Storage Unit

Almost every home shows better with less furniture. Remove pieces of furniture that block or hamper paths and walkways and put them in storage. Since your bookcases are now empty, store them. Remove extra leaves from your dining room table to make the room appear larger

Leave just enough furniture in each room to showcase the room's purpose and plenty of room to move around. You don't want buyers scratching their heads and saying, "What is this room used for?".

Remove/Replace Favorite Item

If you want to take window coverings, built-in appliances or fixtures with you, remove them now. If the chandelier in the dining room once belonged to your great-grandmother, take it down. If a buyer never sees it, she won't want it. Once you tell a buyer she can't have an item, she may covet it, and it could blow your deal. Pack those items and replace them, if necessary.

Make Minor Necessary Repairs

• Replace cracked floor or counter tiles.
• Patch holes in walls.
• Fix leaky faucets.
• Fix doors and drawers that don't close properly.
• Consider painting walls neutral colors, especially if you are accustomed to purple or pink walls. (Don't be remembered as "the house with the orange bathroom.")
• Replace burned-out light bulbs.
• If you've considered replacing a worn bedspread, do so now!

Make the House Sparkle

• Wash windows inside and out.
• Rent a pressure washer and spray down sidewalks and exterior.
• Clean out cobwebs.
• Re-caulk tubs, showers and sinks.
• Polish chrome faucets and mirrors.
• Clean out the refrigerator.
• Vacuum daily.
• Wax floors.
• Dust furniture, ceiling fans and light fixtures.
• Bleach dingy grout.
• Replace worn rugs.
• Hang up fresh towels.
• Add something special to bathrooms and kitchens with new hand towels hung up nicely.
• Clean and air out any musty smelling areas. Odors are a no-no.

Scrutinize

• Go outside and open your front door. Stand there. Do you want to go inside?
• Does the house welcome you?
• Linger in the doorway of every single room and imagine how your house will look to a buyer.
• Carefully examine how furniture is arranged and move pieces around until it makes sense.
• Make sure art and window coverings are hung properly and appear level with the floor and ceiling.
• Tune in to the room's statement and its emotional pull. Does it have impact and pizazz?
• Does it look like nobody lives in this house?

Check Curb Appeal

If a buyer won't get out of his agent's car because he doesn't like the exterior of your home, you'll never get him inside.

• Keep the sidewalks cleared.
• Mow the lawn.
• Paint faded window trim.
• Plant yellow flowers and/or group pots together. Yellow evokes a buying emotion. Marigolds are inexpensive.
• Trim any bushes.
• Make sure visitors can clearly read your house number.

Next: Common Sales Errors