Tips: How to sell your house
This past week Sam and I met with a realtor to do a walk through of our house and get some feedback on what we could do to get this puppy sold in a reasonable amount of time. If you can't keep us straight - Courtney's house is on the market and Dana's (me!) will be on the market shortly. The only bummer in this all is that we bought this house as an investment and the way it is looking we won't lose money, but we won't really make anything either - we should have just rented! But you can't look back at the past and say coulda woulda shoulda, especially when following a dream.
Here are some tips she gave us
Change out light fixtures if you can.
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| Yes! Let's move on here!! |
Take down all family pictures:
Say what?!? She said that our family was "too beautiful" and people will get focused on looking at the pictures. Does she say that to all her clients? Courtney said she could understand seeing how I have shrine to my family. In my defensive Courtney has maybe 4 pictures of her kids and family in her entire house! Anything more than that is considered a shrine. In all seriousness - family photos make people feel like they are in someone else's home - they want to feel like they have just walked into their house.
Change the door handles downstairs.
This is only for those of us that had a house built in the early 2000's late 90's when the builder liked to use these:
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| I did just find a DIY on how to spray paint them to look like oil rubbed bronze - not sure if the hubs will go for it, but I think when I give him the cost breakdown he will happily give me the go ahead. |
Change out light fixtures if you can.
We have a few very hideous light fixtures. One is a fluorescent light in the kitchen that we are going to change out for recessed cans and pendant lights that we have just lying around and thanks to my fabulous brother in law who is an electrician and is going to install them all- I know he is dieing to do another project after his months of working in his upstairs. I may have to bribe him with some beer. We also have a pretty bad entry light
I am hoping to find a good deal somewhere because these can be rather expensive. But it could really make a difference. She said anything that makes it look like a custom home, the better!
Leave notes
I actually thought of this, but wasn't sure if it was okay and before I could ask, she mentioned it. My kid's rooms are very personal:
And a potential concern for some buyers. So she suggested that I write a little note saying that it all comes off and we can remove the leaves and paint over the animals prior to closing. We also have no closet doors in their rooms, but have them in storage. So she suggested making a note about that as well. Any part of the house that you would love to point out if you were walking them through- leave a note! Obviously don't go overboard - but make sure to address concerns and point out major advantages. For example - we will make a note of our walk in storage and our attic. We will also point out all the storage in our kitchen with the custom built ins.
Pare down!
Oh how I love these words! We need to get rid of some serious stuff!! De-clutter, throw away, and donate are some of my favorite words! That is what we need to start doing ASAP!
Touch up
Get your house in the best shape possible - touch up paint, scrub the base boards and bathrooms, make it sparkle! The task seems daunting, but one that needs to happen! Maybe I will make my sister come over like we did for them...
There you have it - a few tips that can help sell your house quickly and to the right buyer. Anyone sold a house lately??