Posts in category 'For Sellers'

Your listing photos are an important marketing tool. They're often the first impression potential buyers have of your property, and they can be the deciding factor in whether those buyers decide to tour your home.

Which is why it's so important to make sure there's nothing in those photos that could be a turnoff to buyers.

So what, exactly, are those turnoffs?

A recent article from realtor.com outlined things that should never be visible in your listing photos, including:

• Mess and clutter. When buyers see mess and clutter, they often jump to t...

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In a perfect world, every home would have enough bathrooms to accommodate large families. But not every home has multiple bathrooms, and if you live in a home that's short on bathroom space, you may have to share that space with multiple family members.

But how do you share a single bathroom with multiple people, and make sure everyone has the time and space in the bathroom they need?

A recent article from realtor.com outlined tips on how to successfully share a bathroom with multiple family members, including:

• Create a schedule. Almost every...

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In some situations, telling white lies or omitting the truth can be relatively harmless. But selling a home is definitely not one of those situations.

Lying to potential buyers during the home sale process can put your deal in jeopardy, even if the lie seems insignificant.

So, which lies do you want to avoid telling?

Well, besides any of them, a recent article from realtor.com outlined some of the specific "half-truths" you never want to say when selling your home, including:

• "All the appliances are in working order." 

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Things change as people age. If they have children, they're likely adults and have moved out of the household. And as people near retirement, they have to start planning how they're going to manage their finances and live on a fixed income.

As a result, many retirement-age homeowners consider selling their home in favor of something smaller and more affordable — a practice known as downsizing.

But while downsizing could be a good option for some people, it's not always the right move, and it's important to know some of the potential downsides before you move forward with downsizing.

So what, exactly, are the downsides of downsizing? A 

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According to a recent study, the average person's home is only completely clean 11 days per year! It also revealed that the definition of "completely" is a bit generous. Many of the people surveyed admitted that they tend to focus their attention on a few obvious things, like their rugs and floors, but ignore the finer details like wiping down shelves, appliances, and countertops.

Hey, everyone has their own level of comfort when it comes to the cleanliness of their home, and they shouldn't be judged or shamed just because of a few dust bunnies or crumbs! Well, unless you're selling your house…

When preparing your house for sale, it's not only important to focus on cleaning the areas that are obvious to the naked eye, but also some cracks and crevices that often go unnoticed by a homeowner, because neglecting these areas can leave a negative impression on potential buyers.

If you want to set yourself apart from the competition when selling your home, here's a list of 10 things to clean before putting your house up for sale that many home other sellers might overlook:

1) Baseboards

Whoever originally decided baseboards should usually be white wasn't thinking! These things are magnets for dust and dirt, yet they often don't get the love and attention a floor or rug does when a room gets vacuumed.

2) Ceiling Fans

You'd think a ceiling fan would be self-cleaning, right? How does the dust stick to it when it's whirling around like that?

Pro tip: Make sure you turn the fan off before cleaning it…

3) Windows

Remember: windows have two sides, and if you don't clean them from the inside of the house and the outside, you might as well not do it at all. And no, that is not permission to just avoid doing it.

4) Window Tracks

It's not like every buyer will open every single window in your house, but there's always a chance that a serious buyer will open a window or two. Unfortunately, there's no guessing which two windows it'll be, so make sure you clean the window sills and tracks of every window.

5) Blinds and Curtains

Let's be honest, blinds are annoying to clean even with those fancy gadgets they sell made specifically for sliding through a bunch of the slats at one time. But it beats having a buyer judging your house (and you!) poorly when they take a peek out of your window to get a glimpse of your yard.

6) Switch Plates

You get so used to where your light switches are when you live in a house that you probably never even look when you slap the lights on. But buyers and their agents love to turn on every single light in the house when they come for a showing, so there's a good chance they'll be looking more closely at every single lightswitch as they're trying to figure out which light it turns on.

7) Underneath Furniture

Are buyers going to rearrange your furniture and lift up your sofa? Probably not, but they might still notice the layer of dust, pet hair, and crumbs you might not notice peeking out from under chairs and tables.

8) Vents

These are like close cousins to ceiling fans. How does something that's constantly blowing air in or out of a room collect so much dust?

9) Cabinet Interiors

Don't let those plates and mugs fool you! Dust, dirt, and cobwebs collect on the shelves even in the cabinets you use on a daily basis.

10) Appliances

If your appliances don't look clean on the outside, buyers are definitely going to wonder how dirty they are on the inside!