NOW IS A GREAT TIME to prep your home for the
Spring Market, PART 3
You have completed the repairs, now it is time to get it cleaned and prepped for showings!
Clean and Neutralize Your Home
Cleaning your home may seem obvious, but it’s often overlooked. If you want top dollar, condition is everything. Make your home sparkle. Windows should be spotless, inside and out. Carpet should be thoroughly cleaned, as should all tile, linoleum, and wooden floors. Built-in cabinets and lighting fixtures should also be cleaned and looking their best. Make sure that there’s no dust or cobwebs hanging around. Sweep leaves and debris off the walk. Wash dirty dishes or hide them in the dishwasher.
Clean is your first step; you also need to neutralize your home, so it can accommodate any prospect’s decorating style. Buyers get tripped up over personal taste. When selling a home, your objective is to make it appeal to the broadest cross-section of potential buyers possible. If they can’t get past the green carpet and patterned wallpaper to see themselves and their furnishings in the home, you’ve lost them. Ask yourself, “How many potential buyers could move in with their furniture without having to repaint the walls or replace the carpeting?” Neutrality is the key. Consider white or more neutral tones when repainting rooms that sport bold or unusual colors. Replace old, worn, or dated carpet, if possible, or make an allowance in your pricing for the buyer to do so after the sale.
Stage Your Home With Blue-Ribbon Presentation
How you present your home when buyers view it has more impact on the sale than you know. A cluttered, dark, or unkempt home is distracting and prevents buyers from seeing and experiencing your home’s most desirable features. Consider all the senses, and create an atmosphere of warmth, comfort, and cleanliness. Here are some suggestions to keep your home at its best:
Space—The more spacious your home feels, the better.
- Use lighting to your advantage. Open drapes and blinds during daytime showings. Turn on lights to create an open, spacious feeling, even during the day—this includes closets and storage areas. Add a lamp, if necessary, in an area that’s not well-lit.
- Arrange furniture to give a sense of openness. Consider removing some furniture and placing it in storage, if necessary.
- Shelves and walls should be tastefully filled, not cluttered. Remove or dispose of the excess.
- Pick up shoes, clothing, toys, and other personal items before showing the home.
- Remove off-season clothing from closets, leaving as few items out as possible.
Aroma
Add some appealing ones like fresh flowers, freshly baked bread or cookies, or a potpourri of lavender, cedar, or cinnamon. A bowl of fresh fruit on a kitchen table in summer can create a strong visual as well as aromatic appeal. Vanilla is a popular scent to create an inviting, toasty atmosphere.
Marketing Extras—The Right “Staging” Makes Your Home More Inviting.
Here are a few suggestions. Home-and-garden magazines and furniture showrooms are great sources for other good ideas. Use your imagination, and have fun!
- Place a vase of flowers and an open book or magazine on a coffee table.
- Use bright pillows or a festive throw blanket to add a dash of color to an otherwise drab or lifeless room.
- A basket of cut logs by the fireplace adds a touch of warmth.
- Hang a wreath of dried flowers on the front door for a winter showing.
- A hanging basket of flowers outside the door can make an entry more inviting.
- Set the dining room or kitchen table with attractive, colorful place settings that are consistent with the decor and style of your furniture. Fresh flowers, a silk plant, or fruit a bowl make excellent centerpieces.
- An open cookbook and mixing bowl on the countertop can breathe life into the kitchen, especially if complemented by the aroma of baked goods in the oven.
- Neatly made beds with coordinated covers and curtains and perhaps a bouquet of freshly cut flowers on the dresser will make the bedrooms feel extra comfortable.
- Dress up bathrooms with your best guest towels and perfumed individual hand soaps. Replace filmy or dirty shower curtains.
- A clean, well-organized garage that’s well-lit seems larger. Make sure that the floor is clean and swept. Park the car outside.
- Make sure that the grass is cut and green when in season: edges trimmed and neat, the driveway clean and free of weeds, and flowers blooming.
When presenting your home, take care to eliminate any unnecessary distractions. The thermostat should be set at a comfortable 70 to 72 degrees. The TV should be turned off; some light music in the background might be appropriate. Children and pets should definitely not be present and, ideally, neither should you. Let your home sell itself.
MARKET UPDATE:
Shelburne – In looking at Single Family homes the number of listings and closings increased, closing by 37.7%. Condos remained similar between 2020 & 2021. There was a mild change in median prices with single family homes increasing from $620,000 in 2020 to $642,500 in 2021, a 5.3% increase. Condos did see a decrease in price, starting $305,250 in 2020 to $289,077 in 2021, a 5.3% decrease.
Charlotte – In looking at Single Family homes there was a 30.3% decrease in listings and a 35.5% decrease in closings. There was a small change in median prices with single family homes increasing from $631,750 in 2020 to $650,000 in 2021, a 2.9% increase. With Condos there were no listings or closing in 2020 but 4 each in 2021. The median price for condos in 2021 was $435,000.