by Ashley Hammons | Nov 11, 2017 | Selling your home
YOU ONLY HAVE 10-SECONDS TO IMPRESS A HOME BUYER!
No matter how great the interior of your home looks, buyers have already judged your home before they walked through the door. Potential buyers will form opinions before entering your home. And you never have a second chance to make a first impression. You can test this out by looking through our current list of Greenville homes for sale. Pay attention to your own impressions based only on the first picture. Curb appeal is very important!
How To Make A Great First Impression with Curb Appeal
It’s important to make people feel welcome and safe as they approach the house. The second a potential homebuyer pulls into the driveway the clock starts ticking. Before that happens take some time to spruce up your home’s exterior. Take notes on which part of your house is visible as you are pulling into your street and as you pull into the driveway. There are many ways to pump up your home’s curb appeal. For example, inexpensive shrubs and brightly colored flowers near the front door will help draw the eyes right where you want them to focus.
We all know the importance of having a clean home when trying to sell, but many people forget that this rule extends to the exterior as well. Power washing the outside of your home is a sure-fire way to boost your curb appeal. It will take off any dirt and grime on the siding and windows leaving everything clean and shiny. The before and after of a power washed home is shocking, it really makes a difference. When a potential buyer pulls up to a clean house with sparkling clean windows, they know the current owner has pride in ownership. Pay attention to the smaller details as well when cleaning up outside.
- Make sure the sidewalks in front, the driveway, and walkway entering the home are all well swept, or power washed.
- Taking an edger or weed Wacker around the perimeter of your front lawn will do wonders too.
- Remove any yard debris that may be collecting in corners around the home perimeter or fence line.
- Inspect the paint on the exterior of your home and touch up any weathered or dull areas.
Last but not least the front door, the cherry on top of your home’s curb appeal is the front door, so dress it up a little. Take the time to really clean the screen door if you have one, especially if the door has any glass. Clean the glass inside and out for a lasting impression when they walk in and when they walk out. Use a brightly colored wreath or welcoming plaque to stand out in a sea of homes for sale. Aside from location and specific details in the home, the homebuyer’s decision will be heavily determined by the look and feel they get from that first 10-second impression. So, make it count!
by Ashley Hammons | Nov 12, 2015 | Selling your home
Putting your home on the market can be extremely stressful. You are opening your home to strangers hoping one of them will love your home as much as you have. Preparing to sell your home is overwhelming and it is hard to know where to start, so we have created a list of 7 affordable steps to help you sell your home.
1. Replace Burnt out light bulbs
Maximize the lighting in your home. After location, good light is the one thing that every buyer says that they want in a home. Take down the dark, heavy drapes, clean the windows, increase the wattage of your light bulbs, replace light bulbs that have burned out and open the blinds. Replace any dated light fixtures ASAP. How can you tell if it has to go? If it’s over 15 years old and looks it vintage (yet it isn’t a vintage, 50-75 years old or antique piece), it should probably go. Local home improvement stores or even yard sales usually have cheap updated lighting fixtures. Do these necessary steps to make your house feel more bright and cheery; it will make a huge difference in your home’s ability to sell.
2. De-clutter
One of the most important things to do when selling your house is to de-personalize it. When a buyer sees your family pictures hanging on the wall, it is harder for them to imagine their family in your home. The more personal items in your house, the less potential buyers can see themselves living there. Get rid of at least one-third of your stuff, put it in storage if you must. De-personalizing includes family photos, memorabilia collections, and personal keepsakes.
3. Empty Your Closets
Storage is something every buyer has on their wish list. So they will be looking in closets and cabinets making sure their stuff will fit, be sure to keep them clean and tidy. Take half the stuff out of your closets then neatly organize what’s left in there. Pare your wardrobes down to what you’re actually wearing this season, pack away the rest or donate it to a local charity.
4. Display Important Documents
Buyers are always curious as to how much the utility bills are in a house, to better calculate their monthly expenses. A floor plan and house plan will also give buyers valuable information about your home and will set you apart from the competition. Place Manuals or information about any recent appliance purchases next to the items. For example: if you recently replaced your dishwasher, put that information right next to your dishwasher. For buyers, it’s comforting to know that it has a 5-year warranty and it was replaced only a few months ago.
5. Conceal the animals
You might think a cute cuddly dog would help warm the hearts of potential buyers, but you’d be wrong. Not everybody is an animal lover. Buyers don’t want to walk into your home and smell an animal or litter box. If they see a bowl full of dog food or have tufts of pet hair stuck to their clothes, it will give buyers the impression that your house is unclean. If you can’t take animals with you, be sure to put them outside or in kennels. Buyers don’t want animals jumping on them or rubbing up against them.
6. Always be ready to show
Don’t leave dishes in the sink or dirty clothes in a pile, keep the dishwasher cleaned out, the bathrooms sparkling and make sure there are no dust bunnies or cob-webs in the corners. Your house needs to be “show-ready” at all times – you never know when THAT buyer is going to walk through the door. You have to have the home available whenever a buyer wants to see the place, and it has to be in tip-top shape. Being prepared at all times is a little inconvenient, but it will get your house sold quicker.
7. Put up mirrors
Make small rooms appear bigger and dark rooms seem brighter by adding an attractive wall mirror. Mirrors give depth and make a room look bigger. They reflect natural and artificial light, making a room brighter during the day and night. Placing a mirror near a window to reflect the outdoors is especially useful, it will bring in the outside light.
