Making your home irresistible to buyers
Posted
May 06 2008, 06:29 PM
by
Karen Datko
If you don't want your house to sell, make sure it looks like some of the houses featured at snarky I Can't Sell My House, a blog that's essentially a pictorial history of our current housing woes. You know that look -- a Christmas tree still on the curb four months after the holiday season, an overgrown lawn, or a few grocery carts parked near the driveway. Inside, make sure buyers can immediately identify what kind of pet you have -- just by gently inhaling.
If you really want to sell your house in this tough market, read The Wisdom Journal's "52 tips to make your home irresistible to buyers." Ron shares more than the obvious in this post.
These are things that any good real estate agent should be telling you, but from the number of tacky-looking houses we've seen with for-sale signs out front, we figure people can use some extra help.
Ron begins with "curb appeal," the first impression buyers have of your home, then moves indoors. We won't get into all of the details here, but the overall concept is that you have to be thorough, and you have to stick with it. A dust bunny is not your friend.
For instance, don't just water the lawn. "Make sure you roll up any garden hoses daily so they don't leave those yellow snake lines on your lawn where it didn't get enough sunshine," Ron says.
His dusting checklist includes baseboards and "every horizontal surface in the house," including places you may not normally get to on a regular basis, like the tops of the fridge and the kitchen cabinets. And who would think to dust the back of the TV?
Eliminate clutter, particularly if your rooms or closets are small. And, honestly, it works to bake a pie or cookies before potential buyers arrive. "You have them in your home," Ron writes. "Make them want to stay."
