Tips for preparing your house for sale

Tips for preparing your house for sale
So often first impressions are lasting ones so the presentation of your home for sale is extremely important. Both inside and out should be clean, neat and tidy. Your home should have street appeal and a cared for appearance so that prospective buyers are instantly attracted to your property and not overwhelmed by too many things that need fixing. Many buyers these days want a low maintenance property. Here is a checklist of things to do to prepare your home for sale without having to do a major renovation.

Interiors
- Do your interior walls, doors, ceilings and cupboards need painting? Or perhaps just a good clean.
- Does your carpet need replacing? Or professionally cleaned?
- Do your floorboards need sanding and re-coating?
- De-clutter and your whole house will look more spacious. We all love our personal effects on display but a prospective buyer wont, so de-clutter as much as you can. Get rid of your doilies, surplus books and magazines, trophies, toys, ornaments and un-necessary furniture and rugs.
- Tidy and de-clutter your cupboards. People do open them, particularly the kitchen cupboards, so the less clutter and the more neat and tidy they are the bigger they will look.
- Engage a professional window cleaner. Your home will look lighter and brighter.
- Fix dripping taps and loose hinges and replace blown light globes.
- Clean window coverings or replace old curtains and blinds.
- Consider new bed linen.
- Add decorative cushions or throws to beds and sofas.
- Have your oven and cook top professionally cleaned.
- Remove any mould and soap scum in the bathroom.
- Do your bathroom or kitchen tiles need re-grouting? If your tiles are old fashioned you might like to have them spray painted to freshen up the room.
- Add a lamp to a dark corner.
- If your pets are indoor dwellers make sure their domain is clean and odour anda hair free.
- Fresh flowers weekly and scented candles always add a nice aroma.
- Clean the whole house before each open for inspection. Fresh towels in the bathroom.
- Don’t forget to tidy and de-clutter the garage as well.

Exteriors
- Weed and mulch garden beds.
- Invest in some new plants if necessary.
- Tidy your yard. Remove junk and old building materials lying around.
- Get rid of the kids old un-used play equipment.
- Check the pool and boundary gates are secure.
- Repair any broken fencing.
- Weed and mow lawns.
- Trim and prune the garden, particularly where plants may be covering windows.
- Pressure clean the exteriors walls, paving and pathways.
- Paint the exterior walls and or trims, to give the house a fresher look.
- Clean your gutters and replace guttering and downpipes if necessary.

If the preparation is overwhelming and your budget is not too restrictive you may choose to use the services of a home staging and property styling professional. Or your agent may be able to guide you as to what needs to be done in preparation for sale. Either way, attention to detail could add thousands of dollars to your sale price.

Find all the home improvement professionals and trades and trade to get your home ready for sale using the Homeimprovement2day directory.

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