Selling Your Home - What Not To Do

If you're selling your home, you have lots of decisions to make and probably no shortage of advice on what to do. Here's advice about some major mistakes to avoid when selling your home:

As the above picture illustrates, one of the major mistakes homeowners often make when they're selling their home is failing to see the clutter in a room. It happens slowly - over time, and it may seem like the chaos is orderly and completely under control to you. But potential buyers often see this kind of clutter and two things happen - and both of them are bad for you: 1) They are left with an impression that this space is small, cramped, and even dark and uninviting, and 2) They fail to visualize themselves in that space, which is the opposite effect you are going for. Less is usually more when it comes to staging a room so that potential buyers can see its potential and better yet - see themselves living in the space.

Here are a few other major mistakes that homeowners often make:

Leaving all their nick-knacks all over the house and all over the walls, i.e., 100-frame picture collages with every family member and dozens of life events covering 50 years. These kinds of things are very personal and you may very well want to recreate this effect in your new home, too but, again, it prevents many buyers from visualizing themselves in your home. Same thing with the front of the fridge ... take down all the ultra-personal "stuff". Think of it this way, you're moving anyway, right? Go ahead and get started packing and box all this stuff up.

Failing to make sure all the lights work: You hear "light and bright" all the time, but your home won't shine to its potential if fixtures don't work or if the bulb is burn out! Put your best foot forward and check every one.

Clean all the windows and make sure that blinds are open: Same as above.

Clean all appliances and make sure they're in working order: When you replace all these light bulbs and clean all the windows, sometimes it reveals kitchen appliances, for example, that are not exactly pristine.

Don't forget the exterior of your home: The appearance of the exterior of your home, sometimes the front is referred to as "curb appeal", can be critical. Remember this, the curb appeal of your home is the first and last thing a potential home buyer will see, and if it's not up to snuff, it can off-set all the great things you want them to remember about the inside. Trim trees and bushes, put in new flowers with color, mow and water the lawn, make sure windows are not covered up, etc.

These are just a few things to think about if you're selling your home. If you have questions about how to make your house "shine", don't hesitate to contact us.