There is no doubt about it, the residential real estate market in the Twin Cities is hot right now. With historically low inventories it’s a great sellers market right now. If you’re moving these easy ways to prepare your home for sale can increase the price of your home. If you can hire someone to stage your home, that’s going to be the best way to present your home in the best light. However, many people still have to live in their homes while they are trying to sell it and storing all of your furniture might not be an option. While a professional stager is a worthwhile investment, there are plenty of easy ways to prepare your home for sale. These tips are easy to do and won’t break the bank.
Easy Ways to Prepare Your Home For Sale
- Get rid of the clutter – remove ALL nicknacks including framed pictures of the family. The idea of paring down the things in your home when you put it up for sale is that people visiting your home can easily imagine their things in the new house. Clutter such as piles of magazines and stacks of bills are a huge turnoff – we don’t really like those things in our own home, we certainly don’t want to buy a new home that already has clutter in it, even if we understand it won’t come with the house.
- Clean, clean, clean – Sure your home is tidy and neat, but is it really clean? Probably not. Now is the time to get out that white glove. Scrub those areas that don’t get much love like behind the fridge, on top of the door frame and scrub those kitchen cabinets with a degreaser, especially around the handles.
- Replace outlet plates and switch plates – This is one of the most affordable ways to make your home look sparkling clean and fresh and at a cost of less than a dollar each there is no excuse not to do switch them all out.
- Replace stove drip pans – Another inexpensive way to make your kitchen and stove look new (or close to new). Most hardware stores sell a variety of drip pans for under the burners on your stove. Toss out the old soiled and burned ones for brand new shiny ones.
- Remove popcorn ceiling – Be sure to test for asbestos before you start removing the old popcorn ceiling and be prepared to fix cracked plaster. It’s a big messy job but it will increase the value of your home considerably.
