If you’ve watched Sabrina Soto on HGTV’s “Get It Sold”, you know that she takes a home that’s been languishing on the market, makes some changes, rearranges, spruces it up, stages it, and it sells… Even if you haven’t watched the program, a home that is well presented will sell faster.

Take a good look at your home… Is it ready for its debut–it’s entrance–in our current Buyer’s market? Would you buy it if it was for sale? In today’s market, it needs to stand out among the inventory. If not…

Here are some low-cost ideas:

• The Brush-Off: Freshly painted interior and exterior walls in neutral colors are appealing, and tell the prospective buyer that your home has been well maintained. Call your Home Owner’s Association (if you have one) for exterior paint brands and colors. There are several “green” paints–low Volatile Organic Compounds or VOC’s available for interior paint.
• A Place for Everything: Remove clutter from exterior and interior stairways, bedrooms, kitchen and bathroom counters. Observe the one-appliance kitchen rule: just one on the counter, whether it’s your coffeepot, toaster, or food processor. This says there is plenty of cupboard and counter space.
• Counter Proposal: Your kitchen should sparkle and give the impression of plenty of working space. Be sure the faucets don’t drip, and the built-in appliances work.
• It Makes Scents: Borrow a friend’s bread maker if you don’t have one. The smell of fresh bread is almost irresistible, and gives a warm welcome. Do not use floral room sprays; they make the buyer wonder what you’re trying to cover up.
• Take a Powder: Put away shavers, makeup, curling irons, hair dryers, etc. Shine bathroom tubs, sinks, fixtures, and mirrors, and put out fresh towels. The caulking around the tub/shower and grout around tiles should be free of cracks and dirt. A good way to clean the caulk is with a toothbrush and liquid sink cleaner.
• Plenty of Hang-ups: Neat and orderly closets reveal plenty of storage space is available. Dispose of unwanted or unneeded clothing to a favorite charity. Store boxes of files, holiday decorations, etc. in the garage or at a storage facility.
• Beauty by the Yard: Make a great first impression by having the lawn neatly mowed and edged, flowers planted (especially fragrant ones), bushes trimmed, and the yard of free of garden tools and toys (swing sets excepted).
• Doing your Homework: You will rarely recoup the dollars invested in major home improvements just prior to selling your home. Exceptions: upgraded kitchens and baths.
• Take a Good Look at Yourself: Would you buy your home if it was for sale? If not, use these low cost investments that will return greater dividends.

The key to selling your home in a reasonable time frame and maximizing your sales price, especially in today’s market where there are many homes from which to choose, is to prepare your home for sale before its debut. Remove the clutter, the personal effects and paint the walls in neutral colors. Create an environment that can suit many buyer’s tastes. By depersonalizing your home, buyers will visualize your home as their home, and it will be as good as sold.

Photo is Courtesy of HGTV’s “Get It Sold,” by Sabrina Soto

“Sex and the City,” the movie, opened Friday to the tune of $26.9 Million based on the strength of sales by women and their friends (the buzz) resulting in sold out shows.

Your home for sale is the equivalent of an opening–it has to have the right “buzz” to be included on the buyer’s short list. Whether or not you have a successful opening can impact how many dollars you may gain or lose in terms of the sales price of your home. You usually do not get a second chance to make that all important first impression.

Your house for sale has to entice the buyer. If you were meeting a blind date, you would not don an ordinary “house dress,” but rather you might slip into that killer Little Black Dress, and accessorize it, perhaps, with a pair of strappy Manolo Blahnik heels, the latest “it” handbag, and an alluring “come hither” scent–in other words you would be “dressed to kill.” Your house needs to be “dressed to sell,” when a prospective buyer drives up to the front of your home for sale. Does your house have that all important “it” factor?

If not, you would be well advised to obtain a makeover (and it doesn’t necessarily require an extreme makeover) prior to putting your house on the market for sale.

In her article entitled Staging is House Marketing, Marion Duffy aptly points out that “You want your house displayed so as to give shoppers an idea of how your home may fit into their lifestyle. This is staging. Staging sets your house apart from the houses on the rack or the rows of houses.” Indeed, your house needs to appeal to the emotions of the buyer.

In a related article entitled Intuitive Home Finding, Lynne Pope paints a picture of how a buyer perceives their home: “When you think of a home, you look into your heart and you picture it, a picture so clear you feel it in your soul, the place you’ve dreamt about and longed for, ” namely, your Ideal Home. Indeed, your home may well be compared to one’s perception of an ideal soul mate. The image arises from our dreams…Your house is now the star of the Silver Screen: Ready, lights, camera, action!

Photo is Courtesy of StarPulse.com