Tips For Selling Your House

Competition for home buyers is fierce these days and anything you can do to give your home an edge is helpful in selling it..

OUTSIDE:

First impressions are very important, so start outside. Patch bare spots in your front lawn, clean out the leaves and any debris from your shrubs or porch area.

If it's warm enough, purchase some blooming potted flowers from your local nursery. Choose a color that contrasts with the color of your house so they stand out, but don't look gaudy. A blue house with white and yellow flowers, a yellow house with blue or purple flowers, or a white house with red flowers all are appealing to most people. Avoid pink and orange as they have a limited number of fans.

If you have a more than three garden ornaments - remove all but maybe one very tame one. Put the pink flamingos, garden gnomes (I have three, sigh), pinwheels and wooden cutouts of large-lady's-behinds-bending-over in your neighbors yard (just kidding). Again, the decorative or religious treasures that are dear to us will most likely not be inviting to potential buyers. This also goes for all of those tinkling wind chimes and all but one bird feeder.

Wash the windows, or better yet, rent a power washer and wash the entire exterior the house. Eves and downspouts collect cobwebs, bird poo and other stuff that we don't notice day-to-day, but the over-all collection will make your house look less than appealing.

Scrape and paint any trim that is peeling.

Think about getting new house numbers or porch light, paint or replace your mailbox; anything that will quickly and easily make your home look more inviting and neutral'.

INSIDE:

One of my neighbor's had a eight-foot tall mural of Jesus suffering on the cross in her dining room. (she was very thin). The painting was awesome, very excellent work and detailed, but it scared that pants off me when I first saw it! This is the kind of stuff that may cost you a sale. (Just a hint, if you're thinking of painting a large, ornate mural on a wall that you'll want to keep or pass along, affix a large canvas to the wall and paint on it. If you do it right it will peel off so you can remove it without destroying your masterpiece.)

De-clutter. Try to pack away all unnecessary items; your angel, rooster or Gumby collection, the macaroni pencil holder your son made for you in first grade, etc. These may be precious to you, but to someone viewing your home, it's just, how can I say if nicely? A mess. I makes your home seem smaller and less tidy. Buy a couple of large plastic containers that seal (to keep moistuer and critters out) and put those types of items in them and put them in the basement or the attic. Or, better yet, maybe you can store some of your excess stuff at a friend or family member's home.

Paint your walls in soft neutral colors.

Clean, or better yet, replace your carpeting. I know this sounds expensive, but a $2000 investment of carpeting could quite easily make a $5,000 or more in your selling price.

Again, remove any extraneous furniture. The little side tables, pillars, extra rocking chair and so on are lovely, but they also make your rooms look smaller. In this case, less is definitely more.

This may be painful but consider removing your comfy recliner - I know it would be difficult for me, but they do have a way of filling up a room. Remember Fraser's Dad's recliner (we had one exactly like it - minus the duct tape) and we loved it, but it had to go when we listed our house.

If you can't part with it, get a neutral (no prints) slip cover.

A matching cover for your sofa would also be helpful. Just a few accent pillows that compliment your room will really make a difference!.

Add one or two live plants to really bare areas. Place a

Bowl of fruit on your dining room table, or a large candle or two tall candles in glass or silver holders.

If you know when the people are coming to view your house, bake some cookies or simmer a bit cinnamon tea. This makes your home smell inviting and the sense of smell has a very powerful influence over people and will make them feel more at home1. You can buy cookie dough bits in your dairy section, just put them on the cookie sheet and bake them - they smell just as good as the ones baked from scratch - well, almost.

Play a CD of soft jazz or classical music (keep it low, in the background).

I hope a few of these ideas help you sell your house quickly and profitably