How to prepare your home for a sale

Real-estate agents have a saying, "The way you sell your home is not the way you live in it." Try to look at your home through the eyes of a potential buyer when you're preparing it for sale. The hard part? Keeping the house spotless day after day for prospective buyers who may show up on a half-hour's notice

Maximize your home's curb appeal. Feed, mow and water your lawn regularly. Plant colorful annual flowers near the door, and make sure you weed and trim the rest of your garden. Wash the windows and pick up any trash.

Perform any needed repairs on the interior or exterior of your home. Fix, paint or cosmetically enhance anything that might hinder a sale.

Declutter all rooms to make them look and feel larger (see 1 Get Organized and 37 Conquer Clutter). Also, clear out the closets so they look roomier.

Clean the oven, stove, refrigerator, exhaust fan and kitchen sink very thoroughly--and keep them clean. Clear the kitchen counters of items you don't use daily.

Replace the toilet seat and shower curtain. Clean the bathroom thoroughly and hang fresh towels every day.

Send your pets to camp. You love 'em, but your potential buyers may be afraid or allergic (see 77 Safeguard Your Home Against Allergens). Deal with pest problems, such as mice, fleas and flies.

Vacuum your carpets, or have them professionally cleaned. Clean and polish all smooth floors.

Fix ripped window screens. Replace cracked or broken panes, and make sure all windows open, close and lock smoothly.

Patch any holes or cracks in the walls and ceilings. Give them a fresh coat of paint in a neutral color such as off-white. (Be sure you allow enough time for paint to dry so the house doesn't have that fresh-paint smell.)

Have your house professionally staged (see StagedHomes.com for local sources). This will cost you, but staging a home aesthetically can shorten the time to sale and boost the bidding.

Keep the garage door closed, no matter how spiffed up your garage is.

How to choose your carpet color

When buying carpet, the first consideration for most carpet buyers is carpet color. This is typically due to decoration decisions and matching paint colors, already in place. However, by placing carpet color selection as the primary decision in buying carpet, carpet performance may suffer.

You should first look for a carpet style that is built with endurance in mind and then choose carpet color based on the color hues available. With this in mind, carpet color selection should next be based on the purpose you hope to achieve with your new carpet installation.

It is also important to determine how permanent the carpet installation will be. If you plan to replace the carpet in a few years, when you redecorate (the average consumer replaces carpet every 7-8 years), choose a bold, balanced palette. If you are preparing the home for resell, you may choose to select a neutral palette, or one in which the new owners can easily manipulate their current decorating choices. It is always recommended that you replace existing carpet, prior to resell, because new carpet is always a positive selling feature.

Why Use a Home Stager

As the New England real estate market continues to suffer from reduced prices and plenty of inventories, how can you hope to compete in this tough housing? While price and promotion are key factors, there is only so much you can do in these areas and using a home stager is a fantastic idea. A well staged home will separate your listing apart from your competition. Buyers will pay more for a home that is ready to move into.

Your buyers are looking for a home that feels like theirs and excites them from the first moment they walk through the front door. Remember the old saying, you have only one chance to make a first impression.

As a seller, have to be able to remove the emotional attachment of selling your home and from someone that has sold three, I know how hard that is. A professional home stager and designer will view your home objectively, without emotional ties, and will help you prepare it properly so that potential buyers see your home’s best features while minimizing personal items.

With the housing market the way it is today, staging is especially important as there are so many homes to choose from. By properly staging your property, your home will stand out to potential buyers who use the internet to shop and browse homes before they call their realtor. Your rooms need to appear neat and spacious, so buyers will make that call to their agent after viewing it online.
By staging your home you are connecting with potential buyers and moving one step closer to getting that sale. Find a home stager in your area.

A Clean Furnance

If you want to lengthen the life of your furnace, be sure to regularly change furnace filters.

Air filters need to be changed at least every three months. If it’s a lower grade filter, it should be changed once a month. Filters make the air better and keep the equipment cleaner. Once it gets past the filter the dirt goes into the blower. Dirt in the furnace parts can cause a problem.

A sign that things aren’t as clean as they could be typically shows up the first time a furnace is turned on for the season. Homeowners may smell a slightly burnt smell in the air.

Signaling the presence of dust or dirt, the smell usually dissipates in a few minutes. If it doesn’t, it may be a good idea to shut down the furnace and call a professional.

Remember, a clean operating system makes for a better operating system.