If you are thinking of selling your home in the Spring, you might be sitting back thinking that you have lots of time to prep your home for a successful sale and that your to-do list will commence in the new year. Sound familiar? Even with the best intentions, the truth is that you should be starting to prepare your home for a Spring sale now in order to allow yourself plenty of time to get through that “to-do” checklist. Starting to knock things off that checklist now will also relieve the stress of having to rush through it too quickly closer to your listing date. After all, you want your home to look and show it’s best to bring those offers through the door!
The list of “to-do’s” can seem like a long an intimidating one as selling your home takes some work to make it all worth the reward (ie. selling your home quickly and for more money). To make it easier to tackle, we’ve put together our expert suggestions and created a handy Home Sale Preparation Timeline and “To-Do” List for you to get you going. Using this as your guide should help reduce stress knowing that come spring, you’ll be ready to list with ease.
Home Sale Preparation Timeline for Spring 2017:
November/December – Declutter and Organize
January/February – Home Maintenance and Upgrades
March/April – Refresh and Repaint
3-4 weeks before you list: Clean and Consider Home Staging
1) Declutter and Get Organized
Suggested Timeline: November/December
Decluttering is a large task in itself and can take days, weeks and even months to fully get through depending on how much space you have. As much as you would like to put this off, its best to try tackling this in smaller, more manageable doses so that you have an easier time organizing your home come closer to opening your doors to potential buyers. Consider this as a way to get a head-start on packing early and you’ll look back feeling thankful you did.
Here are a few things you can try to begin the decluttering process:
- Garages and basements tend to be large zones and hot spots for clutter. Start with the bigger areas of your home and focus on decluttering one room at a time until you finish each room in your home. Another suggestion would be to schedule rooms and closets on separate days as closets can also be a more time consuming endeavor.
- 1) Keep, 2) Donate and 3) Discard. Go through each item in a room and place them into a corresponding pile. Once you are done, you will know exactly what do to with each pile. Donating is a great way to get rid of things you no longer have use for as a great alternative to simply throwing something out. One man’s trash, is another’s treasure!
Use a decluttering checklist to help you go through each room in your home.
Check out our previous blog post on 10 Questions to Help You Declutter Your Home to give you a hand!
2) Home Maintenance and Upgrades
Suggested Timeline: January/February
Consider what maintenance has to be done to your home and the scale of that maintenance. Are there small or major renovations that have to be done? Are the mechanical systems in your home working well or do they need to be replaced? Are there small upgrades you can implement that will improve the appeal of your home? Some of these things might include:
- Replacing old roofs
- Switching burnt-out light bulbs
- Fixing leaky faucets
- Replacing cracked tiles or flooring
- Patching holes in walls
- Update and replace lighting fixtures or hardware for an updated look
If you are not sure of what might require upgrades in your home or where to prioritize your spending, book a Consultation Report with us and we will provide you with a detailed report of room-by-room recommendations and considerations to implement. This is a great option for the DIY homeowner who might like to carry out the work themselves, or there is the option to have us implement the work for you. Either way, you’ll walk away with the right knowledge and have a clear direction of where you should put your focus in making your home stand out in a competitive housing market.
3) Refresh and Repaint
Suggested Timeline: March/April
Painting is one of the easiest ways to change the look and feel of your home. It’s also easier on the wallet too! Your goal in selling is to make your home appeal to a large market of buyers, so as much as you loved your blue kitchen, you might want to think about repainting it.
Our suggestions for painting are to try and stick to a calm and neutral palette – think whites, off-whites, earthy or grey tones. The more people can see themselves being able to live in your home, the more people you will likely have make you an offer.
4) Clean, Clean and Clean Some More
Suggested Timeline: 3-4 weeks before, leading up to and during the time your home is listed on the market
Making your home sparkle from head-to-toe adds huge appeal to buyers. It helps them focus on the positive attributes of your home rather than focusing on the dirt and dust that naturally builds up with time and use. Don’t leave any corner un-turned and clean often when you have buyers come to viewings. Our motto is that a space can never be too clean. Consider the following:
- Washing windows both inside and outside
- Dusting everything high and low and cleaning cobwebs
- Vacuuming frequently
- Investing in carpet cleaning
- Re-caulking bath tubs, showers and sinks and cleaning dirty or stained grout
- Polishing mirrors and chrome hardware so they shine
- Clean out the fridge! You do not want any bad odors surprising guests and giving them a reason to turn away
5) Consider Professional Home Staging
Suggested Timeline: 3-4 weeks prior to listing
If the checklist seems to be daunting and you realize you need some assistance, you might consider professional Home Staging to help you in preparing your home for resale.
With our carefully planned and executed Home Staging services, we work with you to make recommendations on where to put your time and effort in making small improvements or updates, assist you with the decluttering process and help you organize a great furniture layout to maximize space showing off the potential of each room in your home. In addition to our staging expertise, we understand the buyer psychology and know exactly what works to sell your home quickly and for more money.
“All the work was well worth it! 7 days on the market, 5 cash offers, all at or above list! Thank you so much for all your advice, patience, and hard work to pull off all the details. Simply awesome.”
– Client Testimonial
Give us a call or visit our website to see how we can help you create a stress-free home sale.
Check out more reviews to see what our clients have been saying about us.
