Prep for Sale

Prepping and staging a home can help it sell fast and bring top dollar. Here are five steps that will help you make your home irresistible and wow home buyers.

Landscape and Freshen Up the Exterior

Your home’s exterior is the seller’s first impression. Start by looking at your curb appeal. Curb appeal is crucial to a good first impression, so make sure your home looks clean. Pressure washing your home’s exterior or adding a fresh coat of paint can increase curb appeal. A fresh coat of paint will make the front door stand out. Replace faded house numbers so buyers can see them from the curb. Mow the lawn, prune the bushes, weed the garden, and plant flowers. Also, be sure to clean the gutters.

Repair and Maintain Your Home

Sometimes small home repairs like broken screens, tiles, or water stains on the ceiling get overlooked, but now’s the time to address the issues. Re-caulk tubs, showers, and sinks. Replace cracked floor or counter tiles. Patch holes in walls. Fix leaky faucets. Fix doors that don’t close properly and kitchen drawers that jam. Touch up wall scratches.

Don’t forget to clean the garage and paint the floor. This helps convey that this space has been taken care of.

Update Kitchens and Bathrooms

You may not have enough time to renovate but you may have time to install new countertops, paint cabinets, install new hardware on the cabinets, replace appliances, and redo the floor if you need to. One place to start is to coordinate your appliances. Updating plumbing fixtures in your kitchen and bathrooms, and making sure any grout or caulking around tiles and countertops is clean.

Declutter, Clean and Stage Your Home

Pack up those personal photographs and family heirlooms. Buyers can’t see past personal artifacts and you don’t want them to be distracted. You want buyers to imagine their own photos on the walls, and they can’t do that if yours are there!

Do a thorough top to bottom cleaning. Make sure everything sparkles. Don’t forget your windows make your home look bright. Bright & open is the trend right now. Messy closets give the appearance that your home doesn’t have enough storage space. Clean off everything on kitchen counters. Put essential items used daily in a small box that can be stored in a closet when not in use. Think of this process as a head-start on the packing you will eventually need to do anyway

It also helps to arrange your furniture to make rooms appear larger. You might like your lime-green bedroom, but it may sour buyers. Paint your walls a neutral color that will appeal to a wide range of buyers.

If you need help with any of your Westchester home projects, Korth & Shannahan Painting and Carpentry can service your home in Scarsdale, Greenwich, Armonk, Chappaqua, or Bronxville. Just give the office a call to schedule your free estimate. 914-238-5388