6 tips to prepare your home for sale

Last Updated on September 12, 2023

6 Tips To Prepare Your Home For Sale

Post by RyanSellers.com Real Estate Group

Selling your home is an exciting time that can be a rewarding experience if the proper preparations are accounted for. In order to avoid disappointment and expedite how fast you can potentially sell your home, you must make your home appealing to potential buyers. If you’re looking to sell your home quickly and for top dollar, here are some ways to make your home stand out amongst others.

1. Improve Your Curb Appeal

First impressions are everything and your home’s exterior is the first the buyers will see. If they don’t find the exterior appealing, then the battle is already half-lost before they even get to see the inside. Worst case scenario – they don’t even want to go inside! To make the best impression possible, this is what we recommend you do.

Move the lawn: overgrown grass and weeds are the dynamic duos that will your home’s curb appeal go down the drain
Power wash the walls: dirty walls will cover your home’s color and will make it look… dirty!
Add color: repaint the door and doorsteps, dig out the dead plants, and plant new ones – just add color

2. Make Necessary Repairs

A well-maintained home can give buyers the confidence to pick your home over others. Taking time to fix common home issues can also increase the value of your home and make it more appealing to buyers. These are what buyers look for during inspections:

Plumbing: repair leaky faucets, loose toilet handles, and sticky sink stoppers
Electrical: replace missing wire nuts, frayed wiring, and faulty light switches (hiring a professional is recommended)
Roof: roof damage can plague your home’s resale value and cause a host of preventable issues including poor ventilation and higher energy bills

3. Declutter and Deep Clean

Before putting your house on the market, declutter and deep clean it. This will make it easier for potential buyers to imagine themselves living in the space. Here are some tips to get you started.

Start small: choose a small area to organize instead of trying to tackle the whole house at once.
The trifecta: sort your belonging into 3 piles – keep, donate, and toss
Be decisive: letting go of personal belongings can be difficult but necessary

4. Repaint The Walls

A fresh coat of paint can make a huge impact on how your home looks and feels. Here are signs that your home needs a wall revitalization.

Your wall colors are dated: just because the 70s color pallet is appealing to your eyes does not mean the same for buyers
The paint is chipped and peeling: as mentioned earlier, a well-maintained home provides confidence to buyers, and having chipped and peeling paint can lead to apprehensions about your home
Look beyond the paint: subtle aspects of your wall to not overlook are cracked caulking and gaps between the molding (sideboards)

5. Get Rid of Any Foul Odors

If your home has a foul odor, it’s the first thing that buyers notice when they enter it and throughout their tour. Unfortunately, foul odor is one of those things that can’t be swept under the rug or spoken out of. Whether the odor stemmed from your beloved pets or culinary preferences, buying and deploying a bunch of air fresheners is just a temporary solution. Here are recommendations on what to do instead.

Deep clean your trash can: the home in which your trash lives can be a major culprit to the bad odors in your home
Baking soda is the unsung hero: sprinkle it on the carpet, pet bed, mattress, and basically, anything else that is delicate – let it sit, vacuum, and say ta ta to the bad odor
Accidents happen: your pets can have accidents so scour your home for pee stains or feces hidden from plain sight
Say no to a dirty bowl: a dirty toilet boil that is – can add an unpleasant odor to your home and can be easily rectified with toilet bowl cleaner and some elbow grease

6. Staging Your Home Professionally

Organizing your furniture to make it look appealing to buyers is an art best left to professionals. If you need more convincing, here are some benefits of staging your home professionally.

Increase perceived value: optimizing your furniture placement can make your home feel bigger
It’s all about the buyer: your inherited big comfy couch might be your second bed, dinner table and make you feel right at home – but the buyers won’t feel the same way
There’s no such thing as a perfect home: a staging professional can highlight the goods of your home and distract from the bad