tips for selling your house?

[Sara Noel]

Looking for tips when you're trying to sell your house.

[FrugalMomof3]

No tips, but I would LOVE to know this info too Actually, after thinking, I watch that HGTV show where the lady comes in and tells you how to change things ... one thing I always mention to friends when selling is to declutter! Make sure your home doesnt look like everything is in the way, it gives the appearance of not enough room in the home.

[Domestic Gal]

Just watch the shows on HGTV. They give all of the right tips. Declutter, Declutter , Declutter, Clean, Clean, Clean, Paint neutral colors, Clean off counters, Do not use 1 room for multipurpose room (guest room and office and storage in 1 room). Keep it clean ( beds made, dishes done, no dirty laundry sitting around) as realtors will show it if they know you are at work without your knowledge. Finish all projects that you have started. Keep the outside of your house as clean as the inside. Plant flower keep grass cut have good curb appeal. Keep the ac on to keep it cool inside no one wants to look at a house that is 90 degrees inside.

[Neeley]

Take all personal items and box away. No pictures, no trophies. Buyers want to vision the house as their own and that is hard to do while looking at 500 pictures of little Johnny and Suzie plastered all over the place.

Make sure the house smells good. Not like a dog, cat litter box or a trash can.

Remove clutter and clean. Buyers do not want to see dirt on the baseboards, crud in the microwave or a nasty fridge. Dust the ceiling fans, sweep, mop, clean the toilets etc...

Curb Appeal....mow the lawn, edge it, sweep the driveway, front porch and the curb. Make your flower beds look neat and fresh.

I know a lot of it seems like common sense, but after going on many showings and open houses you would be amazed. Some people no more take out their trash, vacuum or make a bed before having potential buyers over. Folks would leave toys out and not neatly put away, dirty dishes in a sink, unmade beds and ovens that looked like they had never been cleaned.

[Laurie in Bradenton]

Smell is a HUGE item. When your front door is opened what smell does someone get. You need to get a freind or someone not living in your house to give you and honest statement. Thats where clean, clean and more clean come in. Declutter and put stuff into storage not the garage. Don't fill up your garage move it all somewhere eles. Go for vanilla scented candles in all the rooms. This scent isn't too over powering and most neutral. Go throught every closet, cabinet and drawer and pack it up or move it out if your not using it with in the next 2 to 3 monthes.
Ask your realtor to walk throught and give you a once over. Then after you've done that list hve her go throught again. She may not have noticed something the first time she'll catch on the second.

Laurie in Bradenton

[katieprov19]

One thing that noone thinks about is the carpet, and the bathrooms. When I went in to one ladies house it looked nice except that the carpet was awful and the tub was really stained. You can rent a carpet machine at the grocery for about $40. I know I have a dog and 2 kids, heck the house probably needs it anyway. The blinds are also a big thing, they hide dirt. If you have a loaf of bread or brownies baking it really helps on smell too We looked at so many houses when we were buying we got quite a few impressions!

[Shellshome]

Well I helped my in-laws get there home ready to sell and let me tell you it is a chore in itself.

Here on some of the things I told them to do
1. Declutter
2. Makes it as impersonal as you can ie family pictures, toys, clothes and so forth
3. Make sure everything is clean and then clean it again
4. If you have pets make sure that there area is clean and there toys are picked up and put away
5. Make sure that the tub, toliet and sinks (bath and kitchen) sparkle
6. Make sure your home smells nice and not over powering
7. Make sure you have great curb appeal if you don't 10 to 1 they will not make it in the door
8. Make sure to have the garage picked up
9. Make sure that your windows sparkle inside and out.

I know there are more things but this is all I can remember right now. We are thinking about putting our home on the market next year and these are rules and tips that I have followed before.

Oh yeah and make sure the beds are made and closets are clean.

Good luck hope it goes well for you. How long have you been on the market?

[sdrjeolsen]

First off. Yeah! and good luck on selling! It can be a hectic time for the family, but once the dust settles...! We have sold 3 homes since we married, the first sold in 2 days to the 1st people through, the second sold first day on the market with offers above the asking price (we were in suburban Chicago and it was a very hot market at the time, so no kudos on my part) and we just sold our last house 6 weeks ago. Our realtor warned that it was a very slow market, but we still had 4 offers in 19 days and even though there were over 20 homes for sale in our small neighborhood it sold for 6,000 higher than any home had previously sold for in our subdivision. I think the prep work has everything to do with how successful the sale is as far as timing and price. I've enjoyed reading everyone ideas so far, they are really great ideas. Sorry, I know many of mine are reapeats. Some of the things we have learned to do:
1. Declutter -major declutter. We streamlined and boxed up all the stuff that wasn't absolutely necessary and put it into storage.
2. Clean closets
3. Paint interior and touch up exterior. All neutral colors.
4. Fix minor problems -door sticks, broken/bent mini blinds, etc. We always figured when we were house hunting that if the small things weren't tended to, the big stuff probably wasn't maintained either.
5. Make the house smell good, bake some cookies or light a lightly scented candle. Guess I'm skeptical, but when house hunting, the strong scents made us leary of what smells they were trying to mask. I sprayed febreeze around the house early every morning. Be sure to take the trash out of the house every night.
6. Play music -We put on some smooth Jazz -hey if it works for Starbucks...
7. Wash windows, wash porch/driveway, tend to anything on the front of the house, including the lawn, flowers, shrubs, lighting, etc. Curb appeal is HUGE.
8. Consider purchasing a 1 year homeowners warranty -it is a nice incentive for the buyers, especially if your home is older than 15 years. They only cost about 385 for us, and it covers a lot of major stuff.
9. If you can swing it, but new hand towels for the bathrooms and maybe some greenery bunches for around the house.
10. invite a friend in who you know will be totally honest and get their opinion. There are so many things that we learn to live with and soon overlook that others pick up on right away.
11. remove anything that has strong connotations attached, personal effects, campaign sign from the garage, hot rod posters, etc.
12. make sure the house is clean, clean, clean. I spent 1-2 hours every morning cleaning -vacuumed every morning, made beds, did all laundry and put away all items the kids left out, cleaned the kitchen, bathrooms, sinks, mirrors, toilets, etc. I figure, if it gets the house sold in a matter of weeks, why not work my butt off for that time rather than drag it out forever.
13. New light fixtures are a really cheap update. The last house had the 80's brass throughout and we actually just spraypainted them to update them to an old world look. We got a lot of comments on how cool they were...and it was a really cheap fix, just about 9.00 worth of paint.
14. Have laundry baskets or boxes handy for an emergency showing. I kept them in the car and when I had a hectic day and wasn't ready for a showing we went around and tossed things into the baskets and loaded them into the car to be sorted out after the showing.
15. Clean the garage and the fridge. Even if you don't include the fridge with the house, as a homebuyer, I always check the fridge. In my opinion, it is an honest evaluation of the care taken of the house. If the fridge is cluttered and dirty, you know that the house has just been fixed up and cleaned so it could be sold, but that normally it looks just like the fridge. So, I made sure I got rid of all.... as we call them "science projects" and thoroughly cleaned it. Same goes for the garage.
16. Be sure you have it priced right. Get opinioins from 2 or 3 realtors as to the value. We ended up selling our last house for 6500 more than the first realtor thought we should list it at. So, it pays to shop around.

Im sure if you google house selling tips, they would have bunches more. Keep us updated on your success!