Southwest Florida realtor Renee Hahn explains how to prepare a home for sale by neutralizing colors, removing clutter, and staging it like a model home. Focus on curb appeal with fresh paint and groomed landscaping, then keep the interior spotless with bright lighting and open curtains so buyers can envision themselves there.
Hello, Renee Han, and this is a segment I call Ask Renee. I'm a realtor in Southwest Florida working for Downey Frye Realty, and I want to address the more common questions that come up from buyers and sellers alike in the area of real estate. Today what I wanted to talk about is how to prepare your home for sale. So I've talked in another segment about the 3 Ps being so important in how quickly and for how much your home will sell for. Those 3 Ps being preparation—preparing your home—presentation—how it's presented to the public through marketing and other strategies—and pricing. But today I want to talk about presentation. Now, you've lived in your home for some time, and I'm sure it brings you many fond memories, and it's just the way you you like it. But when you're looking to sell your home, the goal is about appealing to potential buyers. How do you appeal to potential buyers? Well, the quickest way to do that is to make sure that you've neutralized your home. What does that mean? It means if you've got bright, unusual colors that may not be common, but they were just what you wanted, it may be time to neutralize those walls. It may be things like removing some furniture from your home so that doesn't feel so cluttered. Now, I don't go as far as to ask you to remove personal photos unless they're covering an entire wall and it's overwhelming. I think having a home feel homey is important, but the key is to make sure that when people step through your front door, they can start to picture their stuff there and picture their lives in your home. Absolutely key, because people make financial decisions when they're buying, but the property they choose is both financially feasible and it feels good. It's the home that feels right to them. You bought your home, you know why you bought it, and you probably remember that. Now, I talked about when they walk through the front door having it feel like home. You also want to make sure when they pull up to the curb it does. You can have an amazing interior home. If the exterior part of your home is not appealing, people will make a first impression, and it is so hard to claw your way out of that. So make sure that the grounds around your home are nicely groomed and kept up. There's nothing that would be considered as looking run-down. Perhaps the outside of your house needs a fresh coat of paint. Maybe your roof needs to be power washed because the mold has started to build up like it often does in Florida. Making sure your lawn stays freshly mowed during the course of your listing. You may want to put a wreath on the front of your door to make it feel more homey. Remove some of the clutter in your garage because we all know garages are not huge in Florida, and so you don't want to do anything that makes it feel even smaller than it may naturally be. Inside the home, removing clutter is a great way to simplify and create a blank canvas, canvas for your home. Taking your kitchen and removing the extra things off the counter, putting them underneath, taking some of the figures, figurines you might have around and simplifying that. Get down to the basics. You want to try to make your home look as close as possible to a model home. Now, this is where I'll say not just for the professional photographs. You want to keep your home spotless, and I know that's hard. Believe me, I have young children, and I've tried to sell homes— or I shouldn't say tried, I've sold homes when my kids were young and their stuff was everywhere. But as hard as it may be, you've got to be prepared that there could be a showing on your property at any time. Someone could call you in, in 3 hours from now, want to come and see your home, and that person could be the future owner of your home. So keeping it not only clutter-free but clean— put toilet seats down, wipe countertops off, make sure windows aren't smudged, dishes in the dishwasher, hopefully done. Some of the other things you can do to prepare your home is making sure that the scents are good. Now, that sounds kind of silly, but it's true. Our senses all join together, and just as much as our eyes will paint a picture of the home, it could be beautiful, and if something doesn't smell right, it's going to trump just how pretty it looks. Now, what does that mean? Well, keep strange scents out. Change your trash containers frequently. Frequently, but you might want to add scents in. You may want to get some Glade plug-ins or light some candles during showings. Another thing of preparing your home is if you happen to be living in the home that you're trying to sell, make sure that before every showing you've gone around, opened up every curtain, turned on every light, perhaps put on some smooth jazz onto the radio, and create a sense of peace in your home and light. People love bright sunlight in the Florida homes. So those are just a few things, but the most important thing is work with your Realtor to put together a whole presentation strategy that is all about making your property appeal to the broadest audience. You may in fact have to rent off-site storage just to remove some of the things from your home to allow that to happen. I would be delighted to help you sell your home, or if you happen to be in the market for purchasing a home, don't hesitate to call me. Again, Renee Han, Downing Fry Realty. I can be reached at 239-287-2576. Thanks and have a fantastic day.
North Naples vs. South Naples: Which Area of Naples, Florida Is Right for You?
North Naples vs. South Naples: Which Area of Naples, Florida Is Right for You?
