Low and NO-Cost tips to selling your home:
I would like to share six tips to help maximize the sale price and and get a quicker sale of your home. The great thing about these tips is that they don’t cost much to do, some don’t cost anything. Also click on this link (https://realestateofhawaii.com/houseprepguide/) to get my guide called, “How to Get Your House Ready for Sale.”
#1 Declutter:
If you have the option of moving out, I would highly suggest doing so. If vacating your home is not an option, then declutter the best that you can. Worst case scenario is, you can utilize the closets and garage to hide your belongings and keep it out of the living areas. Best case scenario is if you can keep closets half full and neatly organized and garage open so vehicles can come in. You may also consider putting some belongings in storage.
#2 Depersonalize Your Home
As you are decluttering, take down items that identify the place as YOUR home. Remove family photos, memorabilia collections, and other personal items. The goal is to have potential buyers imagining this place as their home. Depersonalizing it, maximizes this goal.
#3 Clean Up
After you’ve cleared up the mess and removed personal items, give your home a good cleaning. Look at areas that you may not clean on a regular basis, such as the dust on your fan blades, or the cabinets near the stove (sometimes they get a sheen from cooking).
Even tasks like giving your stainless-steel appliances a quick polish may freshen up the look of your home. Keep in mind, these are only ideas. Some people we know do all these things on a regular basis, while others never do these chores. So, just pointing these out, again. There is no cost if you do it yourself. Or you can hire a professional cleaner to do it. If you need a good one, let me know I have great vendors for any need.
#4 Be Handy!
As you are cleaning up your home, look around with a fresh pair of eyes for items in disrepair, such as broken window screens, or burnt out light bulbs. Consider fixing these items or even getting a handy man to fix. Also consider regular maintenance of major appliances like air conditioner condensers and filter replacements. One easy one I always see is the grease trap filter in your stove hood vent. Did you lubricate your window and screen door sliders recently? You know, I get it, life happens and we sometimes neglect to maintain things in our home?
I hear this comment once in a while, “well that was broken when I bought the house and I lived with it, so why can’t the next owner?” I mean that is fine and like Bobby Brown said, that’s your prerogative. My suggestion would be to put your best foot forward as the seller, and if you can get it functioning with just a little bit of effort and not much cost, then why not do it. You may get away with that mindset in a seller’s market, but not so much in a buyer’s market.
#5 Fresh Coat of Paint
Consider painting the interior of the home. This is typically less costly than painting the outside and you’ll get a better return on your dollar. Maybe you don’t need a full paint job, maybe a touch up will do, or maybe even just cleaning them with Magic Eraser. Just make sure you take a look at this with an independent eye.
Wall blemishes and marks are like age spots, they pop up slowly over time and you get used to them. Don’t forget to take a look at the walls behind your large furniture pieces, behind the art, and the main touch points on or around the doors, light switches and railings. Trust me though, a fresh coat of paint will do your home wonders.
#6 Price it Right.
Probably the most strategic thing you can do when selling your home that does not cost you anything out of pocket, is price your home correctly. I can do a whole episode on this. Make sure you understand the market in your neighborhood or complex, or hire someone that does. It is good for you to understand the market at least at a high level so that when your agent comes back to you at decision time, you’ll have some perspective to make an educated choice.
So those are 6 low or no cost tips when you are selling your home. If you want the free guide to getting your house ready for sale, click on this link (https://realestateofhawaii.com/houseprepguide/). And in the words of Marcus Buckingham, “We dream of having a clean house – but who dreams of actually doing the cleaning?”
