When preparing your home for the market, it’s essential to get a fresh perspective. Prospective buyers notice everything because walking through your house is a completely new experience for them. They feel the temperature, notice cleanliness and colours, hear noises, and smell odours.
As a seller, you need to replicate this experience to find areas that need attention.
Test your house by walking through it twice – once during the day and once at night.
You’ll notice different things depending on the time. For example, you’ll spot dirty windows more easily in daylight but may see dusty light fixtures at night.
Try crawling across a room to find grimy baseboards or exposed outlets. Lying on your back helps you see ceiling fans, lights, and cobwebs.
Fix what you find, and then ask a trusted friend to give it the same scrutiny, using all senses – sight, smell, hearing, and touch.
Sight is the most obvious.
Before inspecting each room, ensure the light bulbs work. Check walls for scratches, cobwebs, missing switch plates, and mould. Are clocks dusted? Look for stains, uneven floors, and dirty carpets. Do rugs need cleaning or replacing?
In kitchens and bathrooms, check faucets for leaks and surfaces for mould. Clean with a bleach solution if necessary.
Smell can often reveal issues sight might miss.
A carpet may look clean but carry odours from pets, food, or smoke. Mould often causes peculiar smells, particularly in bathrooms, and will return if its source isn’t addressed. Identify the causes of odours – like cigarettes, pets, or mildew – and clean accordingly.
Ban smoking in the house while it is on the market, send pets to live elsewhere, clean drapes and carpets, and empty ashes from the fireplace.
Open windows and doors to allow fresh air to come in and replace odours with lightly scented candles or potpourri.
Just as one gets used to looking at certain problems, such as the stain your son made on the carpet when he spilled his barbecued chicken last summer…
It is natural to stop hearing minor sounds after awhile.
Be certain, though, that buyers notice squeaks, running toilets, or dripping taps. Fix squeaky doors and windows with WD-40 and replace washers in faucets to eliminate drips.
Addressing noises now can also help reduce energy costs.
Touch is equally important.
Ensure your home is at a comfortable temperature, and make sure doorknobs, appliance handles, and cabinets turn easily.
Clean surfaces – buyers don’t want to feel dust or grime when touching anything. Use the “white glove” test if necessary.
Now you know what you should experience during your sensory home tour.
Take a few moments to prepare your mind for the experience – go outside for a few minutes, close your eyes and take a few deep breaths – a home selling equivalent to cleansing your palate between dinner courses.
Enter your home, close the door and tour your home the sensory way.
Spend a Little, Get a Lot
✅ If basement stairs lack a handrail, then add one.It is safer and, in most cases, required by law.
✅ Revitalize a tree or bush by trimming dead leaves and branches.
✅ Get rid of odours by cleaning drapes and carpets, scooping out the cat’s litter box daily and emptying ashtrays each day.
✅ Keep a log of all improvements made and appliances purchased so you can remember what to include in the real estate listing.
✅ Adding closet organizers, building shelves and adding rooms are not cost effective and won’t add to the sale price of the house.
✅ To save money, fix a leaking roof instead of replacing it.
✅ Professional window cleaners suggest donning rubber gloves then washing windows with a commercial window cleaner and newspaper. The newsprint creates extra sparkle.
How To Avoid The Most Expensive Mistakes Smart People Make When They Sell A Home…
Mistake #7: Trying to “Hard Sell” While Showing.
Buying a house is always an emotional and difficult decision. As a result, you should try to allow prospective buyers to comfortably examine your property. Don’t try haggling or forcefully selling. Instead, be friendly and hospitable. A good idea would be to point out any subtle amenities and be receptive to questions.
Want early access to serious buyers?
If you’re going to be moving in the next six months, what you might not realize is that there are a significant number of buyers searching for homes like yours.
In fact, for every buyer actively viewing homes right now, there are 5-10 more about to begin their search, or eagerly waiting for the perfect property to come up.
If you’re interested in getting a head start on finding a buyer for your home, leave us some details below… We’ll see if we can find a match!
Want to know what your home is worth?
Before you put your house on the market, you need to find out how much it’s worth in today’s market, so you can make your plans based on the most current information available.
We can prepare a detailed Pin-Point Price Analysis for you that shows the most current market activity in your area for homes like yours, and we can recommend an optimal marketing price range that will give you the best odds of selling quickly – and for top dollar!