Marketing Tips for Home Sellers

Your home will sell fast and for a great price when it's marketed well! Your REALTOR® will coordinate marketing techniques to highlight your home's special features. Here are some things you can do to make sure your home is ready!

Marketing Your Home to Sell QUICKLY:

5 Tips for assuring a fast home sale

Price your home "right." If selling your home quickly is the objective, price your home in the lower range of recently sold properties in your neighborhood.
Make sure your home shows well. Get it staged before you have your first showing.
Show, show, show. Flexibility is key. It may be disruptive to maintain your home in showing condition, but keep in mind that the more often your home is shown, the sooner you'll find a buyer.
Know what your bottom line is and be prepared to review offers. Determine what terms and selling price are acceptable beforehand.
Lowering the list price. The market dictates the selling price. If your home is on the market for over 30 days without any interest, it may be time to modify the price or terms. A good real estate agent will discuss options with you.

Preparing the Interior of Your Home:

Helping your home to look its best!
People buy homes that appear spacious, clean and solid. Here's how to prepare the inside of your house to show to its best advantage:

Spacious:

Clutter and dark colors turn off most buyers. That means getting rid of everything you can live without.
Have a garage sale to eliminate unnecessary items. Use the money you earn to put some of your bulkier possessions in storage.
Bright lights and white walls make rooms look bigger. If you plan to paint, use white or off-white. Replace lights with higher wattage bulbs.
Clear kitchen and bathroom cabinets and counters as much as possible to create the illusion spaciousness.
Remove a few pieces of furniture from every room to create a feeling of spaciousness.
Reduce number of items in cabinets.
Arrange clothing neatly in each closet and reduce number of items stored on shelves and on the floor.

Clean:

Clean and organize your basement, attic and garage.
Get rid of smells. Clean carpeting and drapes to eliminate cooking odors, smoke, and pet smells. Open the windows. Clean everything - carpets included. Ask a friend to assess your efforts, especially sensitive issues such as odors.
Wash screen, windows and mirrors.
Clean the oven and all appliances. Remove grease spatters and polish chrome fixtures and surfaces.
Clean smudges, especially around doorknobs and light switches.

Solid:

Rattles, squeaks and leaks leave the impression that house needs a lot of work. Eliminate them.
Repair squeaking steps and wobbly banisters.
Repair leaking roof and remove all signs of water damage. Paint over water stains and replace discolored wallpaper.
Repair leaky faucets and pipes. Repair or clean caulking around tubs and sinks.
Tighten loose doorknobs, light switch plates and cabinet hinges. Repair sticking doors and windows.
Tack down all loose molding.

Preparing the Exterior of Your Home:

Making the most of your home's Curb Appeal
You get only one chance to make a first impression. Spruce up the exterior of your home to improve "curb appeal" and make buyers want to see the inside.

Lawn & Yard:
A well-kept lawn implies a well maintained home. Cut lawn weekly while showing your home. Rake leaves and sweep sidewalks on weekends when the house is to be shown. Where possible, remove dead limbs and debris from shrubs and trees.

Plant extra flowers for more color or spruce up landscaping with potted flowers.
Repair fences and touch-up with paint or stain.
Store lawn equipment, toys and other outdoor items away neatly.
Board dog or other large pets with neighbors while showing the house.
Repaint or replace mailbox.

Front Entrance:
Paint, clean or stain front door. Remove old screens if they don't fit or operate properly.

Shine the street numbers and door knobs and knocker.
Purchase a new doormat.
Make sure entry light and doorbell are in working order.
Replace missing house numbers and make sure the number is visible from the street in the early evening.
Put out a nice welcome mat and a potted plant if you have room on steps or entrance way.

Roof, Windows, and Siding:
Experienced home owners often ignore misaligned shutters, bent gutters and loose shingles (unless there is a leak), but these things jump out at first-time buyers.

Paint and repair gutters. Repair loose shingles and flashing in roof, especially when visible from the ground.
Paint window sashes, trim and shutters. Replace cracked window panes, and wash entire window.
Clean and paint siding as needed. White or something very close is the best color for aluminum, wood or synthetic siding.

Showing Your Home to Get it Sold FAST:

Putting your home on display
Visit a builder's model home and take note of their techniques. They appeal to the senses by making the home as light, cheerful, and serene as possible. "Easy in a model home," you might say, but here are some tips that can be applied to any home.

Space:
Open blinds and curtains and turn on all lights to make the place look open and large. Make sure this includes the dining room chandelier, living-room lamps, foyer chandelier and any other entrance lights.

Buyers sometimes have a hard time picturing themselves in a house that is filled with too many pictures of others, so remove personal or family photographs from walls, bookshelves and mantles. Sparsely decorated walls also give the illusion of larger space. Replace pictures with plants or fresh flowers. Fresh flowers on the kitchen table or counter top also adds appeal.

Aromas:
Bake bread or cookies, or boil cinnamon sticks in water on the stove to give your home a welcoming aroma. Set out bowls of potpourri in the bedrooms and bathrooms. Put out fresh towels and new soap in bathrooms.

Keep pet areas especially clean and free of odor. Put the pets away, and if possible, arrange to have them out of the house. Some people are allergic or just afraid of animals.

Eliminate Distractions:
This might sound mean, but children can be distractions. Consider having them visit a neighbor. Turn off the television. If you're using an agent, arrange to be out of the house so buyers can feel free to open closets and cabinets and discuss their observations.

When showing the house yourself don't apologize for the appearance; it will only draw attention to something the buyer may have overlooked.

Availability:
Limit showings to the weekend and perhaps another day during the week. With this arrangement you can realistically have the house looking its best for prospective buyers.

Make sure your home is spotlessly clean. A potential buyer can be turned off more quickly by dirt than by anything else.
Purchase a new shower curtain in a neutral color.
Place fresh towels and guest soaps in all bathrooms.
Use pretty dishes, placemats and candles to set the table.
Light the fireplace if weather permits.
Your lawn sparkle will sparkle after 30 minutes of watering.
Trim your lawn and weed the gardens. Put away all toys and yard equipment. Spray down the patio areas.
Make sure all valuables are locked up. It's not possible to watch all visitors at an open house at all times.
Let the light shine in! Open all the curtains and blinds and turn on the lights. Stash the pets. Send them to your neighbor's or keep them outside. Worst case would be to confine them to a crate or single room.
Leave. Prospective buyers may feel uncomfortable looking in the closets and expressing opinions if you are present.

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