Selling

Making a House Saleable

There are many thoughts on what makes a house saleable; in my experience the most critical element is that a place looks cared for -- nothing is as attractive as love, and in the case of a home, that translates to care.  At the most basic level this means clean.

A Clean Home

Appreciation of a particular style or decor is a matter of personal taste, but virtually everyone can feel comfortable in a place that's clean, and comfort is the first step in being able to envision oneself living in a place, something a potential buyer needs to be able to do.

Good Repair

Once clean, a home should be in good repair. Leaks, switches that don't work, holes in the walls -- these things speak of neglect, a most unattractive quality. After clean and in good repair, the next most important quality is something a little less concrete, but strongly related to people being able to envision themselves at home in your dwelling -- there can't be too much of you in it.

Tone down

If you have decorated with numerous family portraits and highly personal memorabilia, most of it should be carefully put away. It is not necessary (nor would it be possible or particularly positive) to completely de-personalize your home; you will probably be living there while it is on the market. It is necessary to tone down your presence enough for someone else to "mentally move in" when they view it in order for them to see how it could be their home.

Now the list of what to do in order to make your home more saleable becomes much more subjective, and there are many resources that will advise you to do any number of things covering a vast range of degrees of difficulty and expense.

Resources for selling:

• Getting Your House Ready to Sell
• Renovating a Home

I would be pleased to provide you with my Selling Essentials list just contact me and I will forward my list to you.