Make your home warm and inviting to boost your home’s value and speed up the sale process.
The first step to getting buyers to make an offer on your home is to impress them with its appearance so they begin to see themselves living there. The following are seven tips for making your home seem bigger, brighter and desirable.
1. Start with a Clean Slate
Before you can stress about where to place furniture and which wall hanging goes where, each room in your home should be spotless. Do a thorough cleaning right down to wiping down light switch covers. Deep clean and deodorize carpets and window coverings.
2. Stow Away Your Clutter
It’s hard for buyers to see themselves living in your home when they’re looking at your family photos, collectibles and knickknacks. Pack up all your personal decorations. However, don’t make spaces like mantles and coffee and end tables bare. Leave two to three items of varying heights on each surface. For example, place a lamp, a small plant or a book on an end table.
3. Scale Back on Your Furniture
When a room is packed with furniture, it makes it look smaller, which will make buyers think your home is less valuable than it is. Make sure buyers appreciate the size of each room by removing one or two pieces of furniture. If you have an eat-in dining area, using a small table and chair set makes the area seem bigger.
4. Rethink Your Furniture Placement
Highlight the flow of your rooms by arranging the furniture to guide buyers from one room to another. In each room, create a focal point on the farthest wall from the doorway and arrange the other pieces of furniture in a triangle around the focal point. In the living room, it may be the fireplace, and your couch and sofa can form the triangle in front of it. In the bedroom, the bed should be the focal point.
5. Add Color to Brighten Your Rooms
Brush on a fresh coat of warm, neutral-color paint in each room. Ask your real estate agent for help choosing the correct shade. Then accessorize. Adding a vibrant throw or accent pillows for the couch will spruce up a muted living room, as will a healthy plant or a bright vase on the mantle. High-wattage bulbs in your light fixtures will also brighten up rooms and basements.
6. Set the Scene
Set your dining room table with dishes and a centerpiece of fresh fruit or flowers. Create other vignettes throughout the home – such as a chess game in progress – to help buyers envision living there. Replace heavy curtains with sheer ones that let in more light. Outside have logs in a fire pit with lawn furniture all cozy around it.
Make your bathrooms feel luxurious by adding a new shower curtain, towels and fancy guest soaps (make sure all your personal toiletry items are out of sight). Judiciously add subtle potpourri, scented candles, or boil water with a bit of vanilla mixed in. If you have pets, clean bedding frequently and spray an odor remover before each showing.
7. Make the Entrance Grand
Mow your lawn and trim your hedges, and turn on the sprinklers for 30 minutes before showings to make your lawn sparkle. If flowers or plants don’t surround your home’s entrance, add a pot of bright flowers. Top if all off by buying a new doormat, display a decorative flag or adding a seasonal wreath to your door.