Getting Your Alexandria House into Selling Condition
Posted by David Zadareky on Thursday, June 23rd, 2011 at 7:15pm.
The beautiful homes in our D.C. area create a competitive market for selling. Investing time and muscle is what it takes to get your Alexandria house into attractive, show condition.
No one walks out of a showing because a house is too clean. But many are turned off by little things that bother them, which the seller may not have thought of. So the goal is to go beyond just cleaning.
Before showing a home a seller needs to do some major packing in several categories:
- Collections, lovely art and photos make rooms smaller. Your carefully arranged collection can seem like clutter to many buyers. And while they show your personality they can inhibit buyers from visualizing the house decorated their way.
- Pack anything attached to the house that you want to take with you. If you bought that chandelier in Ireland and you plan to install it in your nursing home, don't let the buyers even know it exists. Replace it with something attractive before the showings start. This also goes for favorite curtains and other fixtures.
- Keep working toward that spacious appearance. Pack everything that you can live without or that doesn't match. (You are going to have to pack it anyway.) Rent a storage unit if you can't hide the boxes. While one packs, maybe someone else can attack the big projects. You may need to pay someone.
- Those wall dents or leaky fixtures have to be repaired. If you think they won't be noticed, think again. These things add up and give an impression of “shabby.”
- Smokers, get your walls cleaned professionally or repainted. Once cleaned, the difference is profound and you won't want anyone smoking inside. While this can make you unpopular in your circle, is it worth possibly losing a cash buyer?
Once the big jobs are out of the way, make the whole family pitch in to do the regular cleaning. An unmade bed really brings a room down. While the house is being shown everyone has to do their part. Floors have to be vacuumed and bathrooms need to shine every day. Don’t assume that your idea of “clean” is “clean enough.” Have several friends walk through and critique the job.
Getting a home ready to show is a tall order. Sometimes more than a spruce up is needed, and numerous businesses can help with remodeling for those not able to do what is necessary.
Of course, your own realtor has a trained eye for what to needs to be done to sell your beautiful Alexandria home. If you don't have an exceptional real estate team committed to Going Beyond Your Expectations, please consider RE/MAX Evolution & David Zadareky .
Print
ShareBe the first to comment on this blog entry!