Common Mistakes When Preparing to Sell Your Home

  1. Focus on what matters. When preparing your home for sale, don’t get caught up in the unfinished basement or in a secondary bedroom closet, even if they are disasters. Start on the main areas, the kitchen and the master bedroom. Move to other spaces afterwards.
  2. Out with the old, and in with the new. Update old elements with new ones. But not so fast! This doesn’t apply to everything. Only items such as thermostats, yellowed or rusted air duct vents, cabinet and drawer hardware, and door knobs.
  3. Oh no, the feature wall must go! Keep your color moveable, not on your wall paint color. Add impact with rugs, artwork and decorative pillows. The idea is also to give the perception of a larger space by moving furnishings closer to the center of the room.
  4. Less is more. Clean and declutter your space but make sure you leave enough visual interest so that the house isn’t boring and uninspiring. The objective is to create a blank canvas for potential buyers by removing personal items such as family heirlooms and portraits, or collections. But you have to leave enough room for their imagination to fill in the gaps so that they can imagine themselves living there. This is where paying a professional home stager can really pay off!
  5. Hanging on like a koala bear. Let it go! If you must, play the theme song from Disney’s Frozen every morning on repeat, but you have to detach yourself from your home.

Do your best not to be offended by a potential buyer’s demands or ideas for remodeling. And don’t ruin a selling opportunity because you absolutely love the chandelier in your entryway and don’t want to leave it behind.  Be flexible!

  1. It’s not a big deal. WRONG! When prepping to sell, the time to start making essential repairs was before you even thought about making them. This is a major transaction for any potential buyer, so even the smallest issue could present a red flag and cause them to head for the hills. Leaky bathroom faucet? Fix it. Stained ceiling from the leak in the roof that you repaired?  Fix it. Electrical sockets missing covers? You get the hint.

It could prove beneficial to hire an inspector before listing your home so that there are no surprises when potential buyers hire one.

  1. Don’t skip on hiring a home stager to come tell you the good, the bad and the ugly about your home. Better to hear it from a neutral third-party professional than from a multitude of potential buyers.

 

Call Ilana at Ooh La La Home Staging to schedule a time now! 770-312-6723

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