Tips to Enhance Your Home’s Value

Getting Your Home Ready Inside

Clean!
Look at your home as though you are seeing it for the first time. Is every room neat, spotlessly clean, dusted and uncluttered? Steam clean carpets and wax floors. Wash walls, windows, and light fixtures. Liquid Gold all trim and wood surfaces. Tighten loose stair railings. Call us if you would like to use a professional cleaning service or repairman.

Kitchen and Baths
These rooms should gleam! Clear off counters. Clean all appliances and fixtures. Replace chrome burner plates on the range. Scrub floors and walls, repaint if necessary. Recaulk tubs and showers. Clean thoroughly and be sure these rooms smell fresh.

Furniture
Rearrange or remove furniture to make your rooms look more spacious. Pack away knick-knacks from end and coffee tables– one or two items per surface are plenty.

Closets
Remove out-of-season clothing. Take those things to Goodwill now that you’ll have to discard anyway when you move. Organize shelves, straighten shoes. Be sure sliding doors operate smoothly in their tracks and knobs on drawers are secure.

Utility Room
Dust/wash off lint from washer and dryer. Remove stains and mineral deposits from furnaces, even dust/wash off the furnace and hot water heater.

Light/Bright
Do everything you can to brighten the interior. Replace dim bulbs with bright ones, replace wallpaper with off-white paint, and repaint shabby or dark walls. Open the blinds, replace broken windows and window seals. During winter, maintain a comfortable temperature even if you are away for an extended time. Turn on SOFT Jazz or classical music.

Getting Your Home Ready Outside

Yard
Look at your exterior as though you were driving up for the first time. Remove any debris, repaint/restain where necessary; if you have a seldom-used car or motorhome on the lot, store it somewhere else. In summer, trim bushes and mow/weedwhack the grass around your home. In winter, be sure your drive and walkway to the front entry are free of snow.

Decks/Patios
Clean, straighten and repaint if necessary. Tighten loose railings. Arrange the patio furniture and toss old rusty items.

Front Entry
First impressions really do count. Be sure the front door and screen are in good repair. Sweep away pine needles and cobwebs. We tend to overlook this area when we don’t enter our home through the front door.

Pets
The presence and/or odor of a pet should be avoided. Even a friendly dog’s barking may frighten a buyer. If you can’t remove your dog, can you confine him to the garage or dog run? Cats and cat boxes may bring tears to the eyes of the buyer (due to allergies, not fond feelings.) Be sure litter boxes are clean.

It’s Important
Do these things now and get the benefit of enhanced appeal to buyers. Since buyers tend to “horriblize” every minor flaw, minor repairs preformed now will deter niggling later on. The dollars you spend will repay you tenfold.

Preparing For Showings

Pick Up Every Room
Check counters, floors, closets, halls, stairs, and make beds. Straighten or remove newspapers, magazines, mail, toys, clothing, recreation gear, snack glasses and dishes.

Turn On Lights
Even during the day, especially in halls and dark areas. Don’t forget closets and utility rooms.

Open the Blinds
Be sure they are open all the way to promote views and allow more sunlight in.

Kitchen
Clear all counters, wipe down counter and appliances, put all dishes in the dishwasher. Clean the sink and run the disposal. Best to smell fresh or like chocolate chip cookies were just baked.

Baths
Straighten washcloths and towels, even replace with fresh, attractive ones if possible. Clean and wipe down counters and sinks. Air out if mist lingers from a recent shower. Must smell fresh, not like deodorant.

Leave
It is best for you not to be present during showings. Buyers talk and look more freely when you are gone, they feel like intruders and uncomfortable when you are there. If you get caught at home when the buyers arrive, excuse your self and take the dog for a walk or run some errands. If this is not feasible, don’t attempt to show your home: you may inadvertently disclose a compromising fact or you may bore the buyers with information they are not interested in and lose enthusiasm. Let the agent sell your home. Even though it sometimes seems the agent couldn’t sell ice water in the desert, bite your tongue. Agents sometimes find buyers wish to discover the ambiance of homes on their own rather than have amenities pointed out.

Materials
The purpose of our marketing materials at your home is to answer questions a typical buyer asks. Please review the brochures and home book when they first come and let us know about any inaccuracies. If you run low (don’t wait until you are completely out), let us know. And if the sign outside begins to lean, let us know. We will attend to your requests right away.

Following these tips will improve your chances for quick sale. Part of our service is to help you with all of these items including staging and helping to determine what items need to be addressed. Contact Ben Wolfe if we assist you in preparing your Larkspur or Castle Rock house for the market.

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