Monday, November 2, 2015

Getting Ready To Sell: Two Approaches

Getting your home ready to sell is a Big Deal!  A home owner that's done their homework can sell their home quickly and for a better price than someone who just slaps their home on the market without doing anything.

If you want to sell your home quickly and for top dollar, there are a few things that you can do to greatly improve your chances of success.  And there are two ways to go about it: do it all yourself or hire it out.  Understandably, if you do it all yourself you will save a lot of money but you will spend it a lot of time (and effort) to do it.  If you hire it out, you won't personally have to do much except write out a number of rather large checks to someone else.

Today, we'll lay out the things you definitely should do to sell a house.  We'll let you know who to call to hire it out or what you need to do yourself to get it done less expensively - and when to know which option makes the most sense in any given situation.

Deep Clean Everything


If the only thing you do to your home is really clean it well, you'll already be above a lot of the competition.  One thing new buyers hate is the idea of living in someone else's dirt.  You want your home to sparkle inside and out.

Source:  domy2dolist.com


Hire It Out
Call all your top cleaning professionals.  Carpet and furniture steam cleaners, house cleaners to do a thorough deep clean, gutter cleaners, lawn maintenance professionals, etc.  Depending on where you live, hiring all these professionals can cost a couple of thousand dollars.

DIY
Rent a steam cleaner, break out the cleaning supplies, and get to work.  Deep cleaning your own home, inside and out, might cost you a couple of hundred dollars but you'll be spending weeks getting it done.  If you have the time and are able, this is the way to go to save significant money.

Declutter and Depersonalize


You want your home to look clean, uncluttered and fairly impersonal.  Think of a luxury hotel.  Nice decor but suitable to many tastes.

Source:  imperfecthomemaking.com

Hire It Out
Hire a professional organization consultant who will help you sort through everything you have and help you get rid of the things you don't need and find an organized way to store the things you want to keep.  You can also rent out a storage facility to store any things that you don't need until after you move.  You will still have to participate, but you'll have a lot of help.

DIY
You can tackle this project yourself if you can be tough on yourself.  You need to really assess whether you can part with items, and then actually do it.  You can peruse websites on organization for ideas on great ways to store items.  And you might have friend that will let you store some of your stuff until you move.

Update Your Kitchen


The kitchen is the one critical room when it comes to selling a home.  Make sure it is beautiful and functional.  If your kitchen is very outdated or just doesn't work well, then consider an upgrade.

Source:  sistamoments.com

Hire It Out
With kitchens, you can really go all out.  You can completely re-do the kitchen with all new cabinets, new flooring, upgraded countertops, and top end appliances.  And there are professional designers and builders to help you with the entire process.

DIY
If you can't afford an entire kitchen upgrade, do whatever you can do get your kitchen looking it's best.  If you can afford it, upgrade some or all of your appliances.  Consider repainting or staining your cabinets a different color.  Install new kitchen hardware.  If you can't afford new countertops, consider a faux-granite paint job.  Install undercabinet lighting to brighten the space.

However, if you are not a handy person, consider hiring out any major work.  It's better to spend the money to have it look good than to invest a lot of time and turn it into a hack-job.  Buyers know good (and bad) work when they see it.

Use Paint To Freshen Rooms


Living in a home inevitably leads to scuffs and marks on the walls.  A fresh coat of paint goes a long way to making a room feel clean and new.  Paint will also help you neutralize the color of your home so that it is appealing to the widest number of buyers.

Source:  interiorish.com

Hire It Out
You can hire a designer to help you come up with a neutral color scheme that will flow from room to room effortlessly.  Then hire professional painters to paint each room.  You'll only be slightly inconvenienced for a couple of weeks.

DIY
Painting is one thing that most folks can tackle themselves and still get stunning results while saving a lot of money.  Do your research on how to successfully prep a room for painting and for the best painting techniques.  One place not to skimp on, however, is the paint.  Choose good quality paint and your paint job will go much smoother and faster.

Update The Lighting


If your light switches and outlets are old and yellowed or broken, replace them in your entire house. Bright any dark areas in your home with new lighting.





Hire It Out
Hire a professional to install dimmer switches where possible and rewire if the switches are in inconvenient places.  Install new lighting where ever you find dark spots like in closets, in the bathtub area, and long hallways.  Adding motion sensors and flood lights outside improves the safety of your home.

DIY
Most home-owners can handle changing out a light switch.  But unless you know what your doing when it comes to electrical issues, leave any re-wiring to the professionals.

Landcaping


You may have a great house but if it's sitting on a boring plot of grass with one measly tree in front, buyers won't want to buy it.  Keep your lawn looking great, have a few (but not too many) plant around your home, and plant a few fairly mature trees if you don't have any.

Source:  houselogic.com

Hire It Out
Hire professionals to make your lawn look its best.  Hire a landscape designer to help you design a beautiful garden plan for your entire yard and hire them to plant it all, too.  Hire professionals to install mature trees throughout your yard.

DIY
If a fully revamped landscaping plan is out of your budget, then just clean up what you already have.  Prune trees and bushes, weed your gardens, and mow your yard.  Keep everything looking good in every season.  And use pots to your advantage, especially around your entryway.

Garage and Exterior Doors


Curb appeal is a necessity.  Most buyers shop online before ever going to a realtor, and most listings show the exterior of the home on a listing.  Make sure you home looks it's very best.

Source:  houselogic.com

Hire It Out
Replacing your front door and your garage doors has a great return on investment.  If your siding is lacking, consider replacing it with cement board siding and some stone treatment.

DIY
If all that just isn't in your budget, you can still upgrade the look of your exterior with paint and adding new hardware.

Flooring


Most home buyers these days are looking for hardwood flooring throughout the house.  If you have it in your home, it's a definite plus.

Source:  houzz.com

Hire It Out
If you have wall to wall carpet, consider having it ripped out and install hardwood throughout the main living areas.

DIY
If you live in an older home, chances are pretty good that you might have hardwood under the carpets already.  Check in an inconspicuous area, and if you do have them, pull up the carpets and refinish the wood floors that are already there.  If you don't have it, but still want hardwoods, consider installing it yourself if you have the skills.  You might want to consider having someone else do the finish work of sanding and staining.

The One Thing Everyone Should Do


No matter who you are, whether you have a ton of money to throw at projects, or you are saving every penny by doing things yourself, the best way to insure that you get top dollar for your home is to hire a Realtor.  This is the biggest investment you probably have, so leave it to the professionals to help you with the ins and outs of real estate transactions.

Source:  Michelle Schwake for Stafford Family Realtors

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