How To Sell Your Home

Claysville originally uploaded by nessachan.

I'm fascinated with the ability that good real estate agents have to size up a house and each of the individual rooms within. They have an innate ability to figure out how best to showcase each to full advantage. Similar to a beauty makeover, transforming the ugly duckling into a swan.

How to sell your home by Barry Cashin from 01/06/2008, although offering a perspective from across the Atlantic, offers great advice on how best to showcase one's house for optimal appeal.

The advice, specifically:

1. Clean, declutter and neutralize the rooms. "It... comes down to presentation and whether the buyer can visualize themselves living in your home." Touche'!

2. Work on the curb appeal: repaint, fix outside details, add flowers or other shrubs. "Purchasers form strong and immediate impressions about how a home looks from the outside, so make sure yours halts them in their tracks."

3. Make the inside warm and welcoming. Make sure that anyone entering your home understands immediately what each room's function is.

4. If the hallway seems too dark, add a "strategically placed" mirror. "Carefully positioned, it will add space and maximise the light." Citrus smells are better than baked goods' smells. Fresh flowers are a must.

5. Replace old, worn, dirty carpet. "It will life the appearance of the room and your buyers won't be imagining the extra cost of replacing the carpet themselves..." Consider cleaning your carpets, too. Add new curtains, clean the carpet and generally brighten up spaces with throws and pillows. Be sure to de-personalize the spaces.

6. In the kitchen and bathrooms, change the faucets and accessories. Add stick-on transfers to convey style to otherwise bland tiles.

7. Reposition furniture in bedrooms to optimize for space. Don't forget the flowers.

8. Ask your pets to stay somewhere else...

Technorati Tags: house selling advice tips to sell house carpet Del.icio.us Tags: house selling advice tips to sell house carpet