When you’ve got your home out for rent or for sale, your ultimate goal is to have your house and property looking as good as you can get it. Accomplishing this won’t require a full scale remodel. Instead, addressing the minor problems around the property can make all the difference. We want to offer 9 tips to get your home in top shape before staging for sale or rent.
Outside
Curb appeal is should be one of your biggest initial concerns. You want the outside of your home to spark interest and curiosity in your potential buyers to see the rest of your home. Here some specific ways you can clean up the look of your home and yard.
1. Power Wash
Over time, dirt, grease, and mold can start to build up on your walkways and driveway. The presence of these nasty eyesores can leave the outside of your home looking dreary and old. Rent a pressure washer and get the siding, walkways, curb, and driveway looking bright and clean.
2. Care for the Lawn
The lawn plays a powerful part in determining your home’s curb appeal. Many people project the condition of the yard onto the condition of the home. To avoid a bad impression, be sure to mow, reseed, or even sod your lawn to improve it’s condition. Have it edged and fertilized frequently to keep it looking neat and luscious.
Interior
Now that you’ve got your potential buyers out of their cars and inside the front door, you want the interior of your home to impress them. You can enhance the natural look and structure of your home without having to renovate.
3. Fill Hardware Holes
Dents, holes, or scratches in your walls should be filled in with putty before being painted over. This will create a new, wholesome look to your walls that will be more inviting to potential buyers.
4. Paint Over Stains, Nicks, and Scratches
You want your walls to have a clean, even look to them. Painting over any stained areas in your living areas, kitchen, or bathrooms can help to brighten your home. Kitchens and bathrooms tend to collect the worst grease and grime, so if you can’t wash it away, pain over it.
5. Restain Kitchen Cabinets
With time and wear, kitchen cabinets can lose their clean, crisp look and can start to appear dirty and cloudy. Instead of investing in a full replacement of your cabinets, simply restain or paint over the old ones. Try replacing handles and knobs to create a nice and modern look.
6. Clean Up Clutter
While having your knick-knacks and collectables out might make your house feel like home for you, it can actually turn off your potential buyers or renters. Putting away extra items like stacks of paper, books, magazines, newspapers, and other extra items can help the house to look cleaner, bigger, and more appealing.
7. Open Up Closets
Potential buyers and renters will be interested in taking a look in the closets, so don’t cram all your extra junk in the back. Keep them cleaned and organized, and leave them open so guests can easily take a quick look inside.
8. Address Pet Odors
While you may no longer notice the scent, newcomers and guests that catch a whiff of your pet can quickly become uninterested in considering your home further. A thorough carpet cleaning is a great way to get rid of any odors, in addition to candles, air fresheners, and other scent alleviating agents.
9. Pay Special Attention to the Master Bedroom
Your master bedroom should appeal to both sexes, so keep it as gender neutral as possible. While this may mean your Victorian decorations go into storage for a few months, this tends to help families sell or rent their homes. Visitors remember entire scenes, not just floorplans, so keeping the space gender neutral will make it easier for any person to envision living in the space.
Still not getting the visitors you’re looking for? Maybe you qualify for property management. North Pacific Property Management works with sellers to help match buyers and renters to ideal homes and locations. For more information, call our Seattle, Lynnwood, or Bellevue offices for information, or fill out our contact form.