For most people, the answer to these questions are yes.  We live with the piles that we are going to get to eventually.  However, if you look at those piles through the eyes of a buyer you will see a different house. 

The home looks smaller when you have all these things in your home.  A buyer doesn’t want to move into a home that is too small for them.  Throw out or file stacks of newspapers and magazines.  The best thing to do is to pack them up and move them to a storage shed.  You probably are not going to need them before you move. 

Pack away most of your small decorative items.  This includes family pictures and knick-knacks.  Buyers can’t imagine themselves living in the home when they are staring at your family photo’s.  Store out-of-season clothing to make closets seem roomier.  Clean out the garage.  You want to create the impression that the garage is big enough for two cars and all of the bikes…..

Finally, you have to clean out the toys.  Leave your children’s favorite toys out.  Pack the rest up.  The great thing about this is that when you move, the children will feel like they just got a bunch of new toys.

The hardest thing to pack up is furniture.  However, most people have a couch, a table and a loveseat or other furniture in one room.  Take out the tables, take out the extra chair.  Open the rooms up as much as possible.

The final thing to pack up are your wall decorations.  You want the home to have as little decoration as possible.  You are trying to allow the buyer to move in mentally.

2. Wash your windows and screens to let more light into the interior.  When someone is coming to see your home plan ahead; turn on all the lights, open all the blinds.  (Pull them up so people do not feel like they are behind bars.)  Open up the curtains. 

3. Keep everything extra clean.  Wash fingerprints from light switch plates. Mop and wax floors.  Clean the stove and refrigerator.  A clean house makes a better first impression and convinces buyers that the home has been well cared for.  You may want to consider painting the front door.  This way the first impression that someone has is that they are walking into a well kept home.

4. Get rid of smells.  Clean carpeting and drapes to eliminate cooking odors, smoke, and pet smells.  Open the windows.  Put in air fresheners.  If you have enough notice, bake something.  Bread, cookies, brownies will all remind people of home.  This is usually a good thing.  If you are concerned about odors in your home, leave a dish of mints near the front door and offer them to anyone who comes in the home. 

5. Put higher wattage bulbs in light sockets to make the rooms seem brighter, especially basements and other dark rooms.  Replace any burned out bulbs.  Dark basements create a feeling of small and dingy.  Make sure that you are able to clean them out so that you can eliminate this impression.  You may want to move some of your lamps to the basement.

6. Make minor repairs that can create a bad impression.  Small problems such as sticky doors, torn screens, cracked caulking, or a dripping faucet may seem trivial, but they'll give buyers the impression that the house isn't well maintained.  If you are asking top dollar for a property, do all the repairs that you have planned on doing for a long time but didn’t have time to get to.  Also, if you have a deck, stain it if it needs it.  Look around your doorframes for chipped or peeling paint. 

7. Tidy your yard.  Cut the grass, rake the leaves, trim the bushes, and edge the walks.  Put a pot or two of bright flowers near the entryway.  Make the kids put away their toys.  Your yard is your first impression...if the potential buyers are tripping over toys to get to your house, they already have a feeling of disorder. 

8. Patch holes in your driveway and reapply sealant, if applicable.  Check around your foundation.  Are there any cracks that may make a potential buyer nervous?  If there are, get them sealed and repaired. 

9. Clean your rain gutters.  Rake up any leaves that are left over or have blown in.  Sweep out the small crevices of the driveway, the stairs and the porch.  Make sure that you don’t have any piles around the exterior of the home

10.  Polish your front doorknob and door numbers.

For more information on staging your home, please call Kellie at Center Key, LLC.  She would be happy to walk through your home and make suggestions.

This is just one of the many services that we offer to our real estate clients.  We believe that the best way to get top dollar for your home, is to stage your home to attract the right buyers.  We want you to get top dollar for your home.