9 Simple Steps to Prepare Your Home for Sale

You want to sell you home, but where do you begin? Here is a checklist of 9 simple steps to prepare your home for sale:

Remove the clutter and clear off the counters. Stow away most of the small decorative items and throw out the stacks of magazines and newspapers. Put the excess furniture in storage, and remove clothing items which are out-of-season to free closet space. Home buyers like to see ample space and storage.Get rid of the smells. In order to eliminate pet smells, smoke and cooking odors, clean the drapes and carpeting. Take out garbage. Open the windows in order to air out your house. Keep fish and exotic spices to minimum while cooking a day before a showing. Put in some work to achieve that “clean” smell.Pay attention to little details and take care of minor repairs. Little problems like torn screens, sticky doors, cracked caulking, dripping faucets or a loose door knob might seem trivial, but such things give an impression to the buyers that the house is not well maintained.Put the home in spotlight by parking cars in your garage instead of the driveway.Lock up the valuables, money and jewelry to avoid any possibility of theft during home showings.Make sure to set a beautiful scene. Put some fancy candles and dishes on the table. Create other great vignettes in the home to help the buyers’ picture living there.Leave the home. It is usually best that the sellers are not present in the house. Looking in the closets and expressing opinion about your home in your presence, might become awkward for prospective buyers.It is important to make a good first impression. You can do this by re-painting the front door. Ensure that the door is working perfectly; there shouldn’t be any jamming, squeaking or sticking locks. The buyers should be able to get in the house effortlessly.Think of a model home. Remove the “extra” accessories and furniture. Your home shouldn’t give the impression of being crowded, it should appear spacious. So that favorite chair of yours might just have to go for now.

For a comprehensive resource on Bend, Oregon real estate, click here. And don’t feel that you have to do all of this on your own We’re here to help, contact us today and we’ll get started!