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Preparing to Sell? The bad news is that you will have to deal with all the STUFF eventually. The good news is that you can handle it before you put your house on the market; it will make you money. An uncluttered house will sell for a higher price and in less time than a cluttered one. Here is how to handle it -- one room at a time. Arm yourself with some boxes and packing material. Walk into a room. Stand there and take a good look at all your things in that room. Be cruel; if it doesn't look good or isn't needed, put it in the middle of the floor. When youhave finished piling things in the middle of the floor, pack them up for moving or for giving to a charitable group. Label well. Find a suitable place in the basement or attic to store the things you will move; take the charitable give-aways to their deposit place. Take another look. If you have any unusual collections, pack them up. You want people to focus on your house, not your things. Do this with each room and each closet. There is more. Go back to those now uncluttered rooms. Take a good look at furniture arrangement, balance and attractiveness. Remember that several people (usually two brokers and a couple or family) will be coming through at one time. Will the furniture placement allow for easy movement through the rooms? Are tables and/or chairs easily bumped into? Do your best at making it attractive. How you LIVE in a house and how you SELL a house are rarely the same. If there are two or more sellers, you must do this together. Start outside, across the street, with paper and pencil in hand. Take a good look at your property, both the house and its setting. Make note of projects to do - trimming shrubs and trees, repairing stairs or retaining walls, touching up the paint, etc. Check the roof, chimney bricks, gutters and downspouts. Take special note of your front walk and entrance area; it will be the first impression received by your potential buyers. If you have private sewer, you are required to have the system certified under Title V within 2 years (3 years if you have it pumped each year) before the closing or six months after the closing. This can be very simple or extremely complicated. GET THE SYSTEM INSPECTED ASAP! Inside projects also go on the list. List anything that catches your eye, big or small. Fix peeling wallpaper, loose tiles, broken screens, leaking plumbing. You may need to paint some rooms, remove old wallpaper, or even refinish floors. Every seller has a limit. But you must understand that either the seller deals with these issues or your house will bring less money. Period. |
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