Make your home attractive to buyers

Wanting to sell your home for a good price and in a reasonable time frame are standard goals for the majority of sellers. However, when you are struggling to break even on a property, or dealing in a tough price bracket, you need to do everything you can to make your home stand out. You need to woo a buyer, and to do that, you need to make your home as appealing as possible. 

Here are my tips on the best ways to make your home attractive to buyers. Not all may apply to you, but implement the ones that do to give your home that extra edge in a competitive real estate market.

1. Attend to Home Defects

As the owner of your home nobody knows the property better than you do. More than likely you have noticed some of the minor defects that your property may have accumulated over the last few years. Before your home hits the market it will be extremely important to address these things. Buyers love those who show pride of ownership. When things look great buyers do not go out of their way to look for issues. This will not be the case if your home has defects that are readily apparent. If you are unsure of the overall condition of your home, ask your agent for advice or call in a professional to do a pre-inspection. This can be a great investment in keeping your sale on track.

2. Highlight Storage Space

Everyone wants storage space when they buy a home. While you may have numerous closets and other storage areas, you need to make sure that buyers see how much space is available to them. This means cleaning out your closets, your storage shed and your garage. You don't have to completely empty them, but do remove at least half of what is in there and organize the rest to give an idea of the potential of each space. If your home is extremely cluttered you may want to consider a temporary storage facility. 

3. Hide The Pets

Pets are fantastic for companionship and enjoyment, but they do not help you sell a house. Having your golden retriever jump up on a buyer in greeting or having cat fur wafting about the house and sticking to clothing will not present an attractive image. It makes your home look dirty, and no one wants to spend good money on a dirty home. Have your house professionally cleaned, and take the pets to a friend's place when showing the home. This is true of your backyard as well - cleanup any mess and patch any holes in the yard your pet may have created. 

4. Brighten Things Up

Buyers today want a bright, well lit and cheerful home. This means you need to maximize the amount of light coming into your house, and you need to enhance that light once it enters your home. This can be done in several ways that do not have to cost a lot of money.

Make sure all of your windows are clean, and consider removing the screens to make things look clearer. Cut back any overgrown bushes in front of windows to allow the most light in, and invest in some sheer drapes or do away with the drapes altogether. If your wall colours are excessively dim, you may want to throw on a fresh coat of light coloured paint.

All of these things can be done pretty easily, and will make your home look inviting instead of intimidating. In my experience light neutral colours sell well - unusual exotic colours do not!

5. Make It Look Less Lived In

Buyers go into a purchase wanting to start afresh or over. They have visions in their heads of a clean slate, a new life and the home of their dreams. You want your home to fit into this ideal, but to really be effective at this; you have to remove some of yourself from the property. You may love your worn in old couch, the mural you painted on the wall when you first took up painting or the hundreds of collectibles you've accumulated on your shelves. Unfortunately, these same things that make your home very much "you" may turn off potential buyers. Make sure your home has a clean enough slate that a buyer can picture their own possessions in your home. Keep in mind that a significant amount of buyers lack vision and cannot see past your decor. Research or chat to your agent about some staging tips that will enhance the sale-ability of your home. Many of these tips do not cost a lot of money.

6. Best Foot Forward - Always

You want your house to be as immaculate as possible the entire time you are making it available for showings. If this sounds difficult, that's because it is. Living your everyday life in a house prepped to show can be tedious, which is why it pays to sell quickly. Your home needs to be clean, and ready to show on a moment's notice. Bring in a professional house cleaner to prepare your house for showing, and consider having cleaners come in regularly to keep the look up while your home is on the market. One mess can be enough to turn off a potential buyer, and miss out on the sale you need.

7. Price Competitively

This is one of the most difficult concepts for many sellers to embrace, because it seems counter intuitive. Why would you want to risk selling your home for less than you need? In reality, putting your house up for a price that is lower than competitors will very often set off a bidding war, eventually resulting in a price you are happy with. If your home is priced improperly, there is nothing to spark interest. You will in fact shoot yourself in the foot and more than likely sell your home for less than you would have if priced correctly coming out of the gate.

8. Seek Knowledgeable Help

Find an agent you trust, and apply his or her advice as well as you can. Each home is different, and your strategy must be based on the realities of your individual market. A good agent will know this, and will be able to guide you through the process with a steady hand. There is nothing better than having a top notch agent in your corner. Just like any other profession there are the crème of the crop and those who are considered average. You don't want average when trying to get the best price possible for your home!

Use all of the tips above to make your home more appealing before selling. By following this smart advice you will dramatically increase your odds of success but also decrease the stress level of having your home on the market for an extended period of time. 

Happy Selling!