Getting Your Home Ready to Sell When You Are On a Budget

These days just about everyone is on a budget, so when it comes to selling your home you probably do not want to dump a bunch of money into to it just to get it ready to sell. So the question is...

What things are considered the most important when it comes to getting your home ready to list?

Recently over one thousand real estate professionals were asked that very question; what can the consumer do for least amount of money and the most amount of effectiveness? I would like to share the top four things:

1. Clean and De-Clutter

Get rid of all the stuff you don't need. Remember that living in a home and having your home on the market are two different worlds. You have to get rid of everything you don't need because you want the house looking as neat as possible. If you don't have a garage then get a storage unit. Get rid of everything you don't need and make sure that your home looks clean; there's a reason model homes look like they do.

A lot of people may understand about cleaning, but de-cluttering is important too?

De-cluttering is actually the biggest part of that cleaning. Get the counter tops cleared off and make the home look as big as possible. If it feels crowded when a potential buyer walks in they are going to feel like they've already outgrown the home. This is such a crucial part of it and it really doesn't cost anything to do that.

2. Lightening and Brightening

Make sure all the blinds in your house are opened up and make sure that all the lights are on. One thing people can do that many times they don't realize, is take all the screens off the windows to let more light in. If a home is light and bright, it creates an illusion that the home is bigger.

3. Home Staging

You can hire somebody for $300-$500 to come into your home and rearrange what you already have; it doesn't mean that you have to rent furniture. Remember, living in your home and having your home on the market are two different situations. Have a professional come in and see how you should have your things arranged; it makes a huge difference in the salability of that property. Remember that you are trying to make that first impression stand out about the home.

4. Landscaping

Again, that first impression is so crucial. When people pull up to the home, you hope they will want to go into the home. If the home looks ratty on the outside, or the grass hasn't been mowed, or you haven't refreshed the mulch or put some flowers out, it sends a message that maybe the inside is not so great as well. I've learned over the years that people judge the inside of a home, and their desire to get into the inside of a home, based on what they are looking at on the outside; that makes landscaping absolutely crucial.