How to Prepare A Home For Sale

By Michael Ranger

Preparing a home for sale is absolutely key to getting it sold fast and for top dollar. Sellers who take the time to prepare their home will sell much faster than those who just decide that a sign in the yard is best. Where do you start when trying to prepare a home for sale. A good cleaning and painting are the best and cheapest tasks that will bring you the best results in return. Never put your home up for sale before it is ready to show . Remember the old saying you only get one chance to make a "Good First Impression". It has never been more true than when you are selling a house and this is why it is number one on my list to selling a home fast.

Let's review a list of items to address:

Cleaning: Make the beds, keep kitchen clean, hide all the toys, make sure the house is spotless, and make sure all closets are tidy (not stuffed).

Painting: A freshly painted interior and exterior is always a major plus. The interior is very important to have low key neutral colors.

De-Clutter: Always keep the counters in the kitchen clean, remove any extra furniture, remove extra clothes, remove extra pictures on walls, remove extra knick-knacks from shelves, because your goal is to make your home look much larger. I know it sounds like you will need a storage unit but it is well worth the effort.

Lighting: Lighting is very important....you want to make sure all light bulbs work and that when showing your home all lights are on. Your lighting will also make your home appear much larger to a buyer when it is on.

Odors: Odors in a home can be very bad influence on a buyers perception of your home. So if you are a pet owner or like to cook. You are going to want to address the odors in your home and you can get some free ideas on this from a google search. Whatever your odor problem is you must eliminate it and resolve it before showing your house.

Storage Areas: It is also very important to tidy up storage areas as well to look neat and spacious.

Outdoors: Do Not and I repeat DO NOT forget the exterior of your home because this is ultimately the true first impression from a buyer perspective. Try to be objective when comparing the exterior of your home to other homes on your street. You want your home to look just as good or better than the others on the street.

Landscaping: You want to make sure that your plant beds look nice and are free of weeds. Keep your lawn cut and keep bushes and trees trimmed nicely. Make sure any decking or fencing is properly maintained and looks good.

Upgrades: You may consider doing some small upgrades but it is very important to measure the cost vs. the return. In most cases it is not recommended to do to many upgrades if they are in the $1000 plus price range.

The goal of preparing your home for sale is to make it more appealing to potential buyers upon their first visit. Therefore giving you a better chance of selling your house quickly. Remember it is a good idea to start preparing ahead of when you are ready to sell, giving yourself several weeks to prepare. The preparing of your home to sell is a big job but well worth the effort.

Good Luck!

Michael Ranger is currently Director of Operations for 24hourfsbo and Alliance Marketing Concepts, LLC. 24hourFSBO is a real estate marketing website that offers homeowners the information and tools need to sell their home by owner. Michael has spent many years in the real estate industry as a very successful real estate broker. Michael has recieved many awards and acknowledgements for his level of service and production.

Get more home selling tips here: http://getfsboresults.blogspot.com/

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Michael_Ranger
http://EzineArticles.com/?How-to-Prepare-A-Home-For-Sale&id=1693049