Where to start when you want top dollar for your home

Declutter: Go room by room, removing the items you won’t need between now and moving day. Pay extra attention to cabinets, closets, and pantries — you want to give potential buyers the impression that your home has ample storage. Counters, tables, dressers should be clear of EVERYTHING personal. Not sure where to put all your extra stuff? Consider getting a temporary storage unit or getting stackable boxes or crates and move things out to the shed or garage in a neat and tidy fashion.

Depersonalize: Remember, potential buyers want to be able to picture themselves calling your house home, and that’s hard to do if all they see are family photos, personal items, and keepsakes. While it might be a bit emotional, take a run through your home and remove the decor items that make your house feel personally yours.

Erase signs of pets: You may love your cat, but potential buyers may not (or they may have an allergy). Make sure to clean thoroughly and remove toys, food dishes, and water bowls. Pets must not be home when your home is being shown to potential buyers. Make a plan on how you will deal with that. Ask me for suggestions!

Deep clean: As your mother would say, “Clean like company is coming.” In fact, you may want to go one step further. Aim to clean to a point where it looks like nobody actually lives in the home: no smudges on the windows, no dust bunnies on the floor, no water marks on the counters. A clean home tells potential buyers that you’ve taken great care of the property. Make cupboards, panties and surfaces sparkle and look very organized. Rent a rug doctor to clean pet odors/stains out of carpets. Make your home look like a SHOW HOME by reducing the amount of furniture in the rooms. This creates a spacious feel in small spaces.

Hire a Stager to work with your furniture…Ask me how to get this service COMPLIMENTARY by working with me…it can make the difference to the sale price of your home!

These are the first steps in getting your home ready without SPENDING your hard-earned dollars. It takes a little elbow grease and time so get the family involved and GET’ER DONE!! Once achieved you can actually start to stage the home…

Please see my “Top 11 tips for HOME STAGING”