Sellers - How to Prepare your Home for Sale

Ask yourself

  • When was the last time I mowed the lawn?
  • Have I ever cleaned those gutters out?
  • Could those window frames use some fresh paint?
  • Were those paving slabs always that uneven?
  • Can people see my house number?

Depersonalise

Your buyers don't want to see the lovely life you've made for yourself in your beautiful home. They want to imagine the lovely life they could make for themselves in their beautiful potential new home. Don't allow anything to clutter that vision by having too many photo frames.

Clutter

Get rid of it. If you've accumulated a lot of bits and pieces over the years (and you definitely have), now's the time to either a) throw them out, b) give them to charity or c) find proper, neat places for them in a closet or cupboard. You might even consider having a garage sale to purge your house of all that unnecessary 'stuff'.
Pay specific attention to:
  • Books, CDs and DVDs
  • Ornaments and knick-knacks
  • Kitchen tools and appliances that currently live on the counters
  • Potted plants
  • Posters on your children's bedroom walls.

Spring clean

We're not talking about a quick once-over. Serious attention to detail is necessary here.
  • Dust the skirting boards
  • Clean the windows (inside and out) and then polish them for extra shine
  • Dust light fixtures and furniture
  • Vacuum
  • Get rid of cobwebs
  • Polish taps and mirrors
  • Clean out the refrigerator and deodorise it by a) placing an open box of baking soda inside it to soak up odours and b) wiping down the inside surfaces with vanilla extract
  • Bleach tile grout
  • Scrub the oven clean - it may sound excessive, but prospective buyers are notoriously nosy and judgmental

Allow your consultant to do the job

Prospective buyers don't really want you hovering over them while they're trying to nose around in your wardrobe and pass judgment on your crockery. It's a bit off-putting. If they feel awkward, they're much less likely to linger in your home and get the full impact of how great it is and how they'd very much like to buy it.

Repair, restore, revamp

Try to look at your home from the perspective of your buyer, and think about the details that would impress or dismay you if you were in their position. Then take care of those details immediately.
  • Replace broken light bulbs
  • Fix leaky taps
  • Fix doors and drawers that don't open or close properly
  • Repair cracks in the walls
  • Touch up paint and repaint altogether where necessary (in a neutral colour)
  • Hang up fresh towels in the bathroom
  • Get a new shower curtain and bathmat (again, choose neutral shades)
  • Get rid of that busy wallpaper that you loved five years ago. Remove it and then paint the walls - don't simply paint over it, as it will be obvious to your buyer and make the wallpaper difficult to remove
  • Eradicate odours - particularly those from cigarette smoke, mildew and pets. Open the windows and air out your house. Simply masking bad smells with a perfumed air freshener won't do the trick
  • Replace cushion covers, bedspreads and curtains that are worn or have garish colours and patterns

Light

Lots of natural light usually tops the list of things people are looking for in a home.
Fortunately, there are other ways to maximise the light in your house - natural or otherwise - and give the impression of having plenty of bright, airy space.
  • Replace dim light bulbs with higher wattage
  • In areas of your house that are particularly dark, install some extra light fixtures
  • Repaint darker rooms with light-coloured and light-reflecting paint
  • Prune any trees or vines that are casting shadows inside the house