5 Steps to Sell Your Home Easily

Apex Note: This blog is part of a series we're doing with some of our real estate partners showcasing their home buying and selling expertise!  Thanks to Carolyn Hurwitz with Re/Max Town Center for this great piece on getting your home ready to list. 

Selling your home? I’m going to provide 5 tips to make it easy. But first, here is a caveat. Although I am a Realtor®, and I advise people every day about how to prepare their homes to go on the market, I would not let just anyone into my house on an average day.  My house is not ready to be seen by anyone — except maybe my closest friends!  So I must tell you: this is a big dose of do what I say, not what I do!

1. Make sure your home is show ready. Walk through, or have a friend walk through, and look at it through the eyes of a buyer.
2. Declutter. Buyers need to be able to see as much space as possible. You don’t want visitors to trip over shoes or backpacks. Buyers don’t want to see your mail or artwork taped to the fridge. Buyers want to envision themselves living in your house with their own things, which is difficult to do if there is too much clutter!
3. Make necessary repairs. Buyers will look for problems in the property once they see that minor issues were not corrected, and they will often make a lower offer on your home. So the door knob you know you have to jiggle to turn is something you are used to, but it’s a sign of other problems to a potential buyer.
4. Curb appeal sets the tone. Keep your grass cut.  Plant fresh flowers. Perhaps give your front door a coat of fresh paint. You get one chance to make a first impression!
5. Let the light shine in. Open curtains open for showings. Replace light bulbs if they have burned out. I have only had one client that didn’t want a place with too much light, and I think he was a bear in another life and he really wanted to buy a cave where he could hibernate!

For more ideas on selling your home, contact me at Carolyn@carolynhurwitz.com.