Tips For Getting The Most You Can From The Sale Of Your House

Prospective sellers often do not realize that their primary job before putting their house on the market is to eliminate any potential obstacles that could keep a buyer from making an offer. When your home is competitively priced and its physical condition exceeds a buyer’s expectations, you’ll get the best offer possible.

As soon as you decide you are ready to consider putting your house on the market, the first order of business should be to get your home into “selling shape.” What does that mean? Getting a home into “selling shape” is quite different from having a clean, beautiful home. You need to “stage” your home, which means you have to make it look exactly the way a prospective buyer viewing your home expects it to look when he or she walks in the door. 

How do you stage a home? Start by throwing away, giving away, or packing up anything you haven’t used in the last couple of years or more. Do you have miscellaneous newspapers, magazines, paperwork, books, etc., piled up in various corners waiting for that free day when you will be able to get to them? It is time to sort through them, pack them up, or throw them away. There is nothing that takes away from the way a house is viewed by a prospective buyer as having too much clutter taking up space throughout the house. Focus on decluttering and depersonalizing the space so you can focus on creating a welcoming and inviting atmosphere, while ensuring that the home is clean and well-maintained.

What about your adult children’s rooms? Are they loaded with all the kids’ stuff since they left for college or got married, waiting for that elusive day when they will come back to clean it up or pack it up? Now is the time to tell them to come and get their stuff so you can show those rooms off at their best and most spacious.

For those of you who have pets, although we all love animals, a home with pets requires a little extra TLC when preparing it for sale. If you have cats, make sure the kitty litter box is always clean and fresh and in a nondescript place. Take some time to do a very thorough vacuuming under, over, and around all furniture, carpeting, and miscellaneous items and places around the house that might have accumulated dog or cat hair that you may not have noticed while living there, but might be off-putting to a prospective buyer when showing your home. Make it a practice to continue to do this extra cleaning and dusting throughout the house for the duration of the time it is on the market.

To those of us who love animals, we don’t think twice when we enter a home and the dogs and cats are part of the family, but some people might be allergic or even fearful of animals, and you should create a plan in advance of where you can place the animals during a house showing, especially in the event a prospective buyer requests it.

Your next part of the staging process should be to make note of any small maintenance problem that should be addressed prior to presenting your house for sale. Do you have any peeling paint or cracks in the walls or ceilings that should be addressed? When was the last time you cleaned out your gutters and leaders? Are there any dripping faucets or clogged drains that should be fixed now? How does your landscaping present itself? Whatever maintenance projects you decide to tackle prior to selling your home, make sure you finish them prior to showing your house for sale.

If you are not sure where or how to begin any of this staging process without a little assistance, the best method is to call in the real estate broker and ask her to assist you in preparing a list of what items you should tackle while preparing your home for sale. Presenting your home in the best possible manner will assure you of getting the best possible offer. n

Anessa Cohen lives in Cedarhurst and is a Licensed Real Estate Broker (Anessa V Cohen Realty) with over 20 years of experience offering full service real estate residential, commercial and management services. She can be reached at 516-569-5007. Readers are encouraged to send any questions or scenarios by email to [email protected].