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A Stress-Free Guide to Prepping Your House for Sale
How to Prepare Your House for Market?
Selling your house can be a stressful and overwhelming process. From finding the right real estate agent to pricing your home correctly, there are many factors to consider. But one thing that is often overlooked is how to actually prepare your house for sale. And let's be honest, potential buyers aren't going to be interested in a messy, cluttered home!So, if you want to make a good impression and maximize your chances of selling quickly, it's important to get your house in tip-top shape. In today's blog post, we will walk you through a step-by-step, stress-free guide on how to prepare your house for sale. So, grab your cleaning supplies, and let's get started!
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| Family unpacking after moving to a new house, Photo by Cottonbro Studio |
3 Tips For Preparing Your House For Sale
1. Start by Decluttering and Organizing the Property to Sell
When it comes to photos and open houses for attracting potential buyers in the selling process, you need to make sure your property is properly decluttered, depersonalized, and clean as a whistle. This procedure can seem pretty overwhelming, but here are some expert tips from 101 Architech Projects & Blogs to make the process so smoother.
Is your home office disorganized and cluttered? Now’s the time to start organizing! If you have tons of paper and excess supplies in your office, store them in a file cabinet or remove them entirely. Also, you’ll want to gather up all the documents you’ll need for the sale (including any mortgage and financial documents) and set them aside. Then, you’ll want to start decluttering. Just the idea of decluttering can seem exhausting. Fortunately, there are several methods to help streamline the process and help you keep your sanity.
The next step is to divide the house into rooms. By compartmentalizing this way, you can see clear development as you move across the home. You should also try to plan some logistics in advance - where will you be storing items that you need to use during the move-out but want to keep? Where will you place items for recycling?
Usually, moving out results in the loss or disposal of many possessions, so it’s a good idea to get ahead of the issue. Also, this will make the process of staying organized much easier, as well.
When it comes to the actual process of decluttering, it’s best to go from small to big. That means starting with the smallest space in the smallest room of your house and slowly working your way up - this may be a bathroom, a storage cupboard, or even an attic space.
Although you can plan much of the process, there will still be plenty of moments of spontaneous decision-making. Whether you keep an item should depend on two things, does it serve a useful purpose and, in the famous words of Marie Kondo, does it bring you joy?
2. Cleaning
Once you’ve opened up space in the home, it’s time to begin the process of cleaning. It’s worth mentioning that this is not the same as any other cleaning job, you’re likely to be scrubbing away years’ worth of dirt and staining. To carry out the task, you’re going to need some unique weapons in your arsenal.
These will include multiple buckets (for grease, bleach, and water), disinfectants of different strengths, drain unblockers, rubber gloves, scrubbers of varying sizes, lots of vinegar, and towels you’re willing to throw away.
Once you’ve prepared your equipment (and body), it’s time to go to war. Much like the decluttering stage, it helps to follow an order of things: focus early on appliances like fridges or ovens, which need to be cleaned as if new. You may find some stains or damage are permanent and in cases such as these, it may even be worth looking into replacements.
During the cleaning process, it’s important not to underestimate smells - to help rid the house of foul odors, try using combinations of lemon (good to leave in microwaves, ovens, and fridges), baking soda (for tiles, floors, and surfaces) and there’s nothing better than a traditional vinegar mix for ridding carpets of any stink.
3. Depersonalizing
To prepare your house for viewings, you’ll have to remove some of its personality. After all, you want sellers to imagine themselves and not you living there. There is an art to doing this, and an expert can help advise you on which mirrors, paintings and plants are most effective when selling the property.
If you’re repainting walls, try to use neutral tones that don’t come across as too overpowering; creams, whites, and beiges work well. You may need to replace or add new furniture and, if that’s the case, don’t shy away from a trip to your local home goods store. You can usually find clean, neutral, attractive objects for reasonable prices.
On the other hand, some existing furniture will add to your home’s appeal but may not be in good condition. In cases like these, it’s worth considering reupholstery. Local upholstery shops will repair and restore beloved furniture and sometimes their help is cheaper than buying new.
The trick, when preparing for any house sale, is to prepare ahead of time. With enough research and planning, you can remove stress and add value, leading to a result that has you and the new property owner both satisfied.
- 101 Architech Projects & Blogs is here to help you learn more about design and construction. Let us know if you have any questions!
