The Elevate Real Estate Group with Royal LePage Triland Realty is delighted to provide you with our step-by-step guide to prepare your home to sell in one week.
Whether you’re selling your first home or your 10th home, the experience can be exhausting, stressful, and unpredictable.
It is easy for sellers to get caught up in the whirlwind, resulting in crucial oversights or added stress. For years, we have helped clients prepare for their homes to hit the market thoughtfully and strategically.
Hopefully, this guide helps reduce stress while maximizing profits from your sale.
So let’s dive in…
History Of Your Home
Living in, improving, and maintaining a home often generates significant paperwork. When you decide it’s time to sell, other realtors and potential buyers will want to come through your house.
Try to gather:
- Previous years’ utility bills
- Tax bills
- Renovation details
- Warranties
- Surveys
- Rental contracts
- Receipts for significant work completed
Light Up Your Home
Lighting makes an incredible difference in how a home looks to potential buyers and how it will look in photos and videos for marketing your home.
- Replace all burnt light bulbs.
- Switch out any broken lamps with ones that work.
- If you can buy brighter lamps for rooms that are dark, do so
- If you have old light fixtures consider replacing them
- Don’t forget about outdoor lights
We can’t stress enough how vital a well-lit house is.
Prepare For Battle…..the de-cluttering battle…
People always say to us when they start organizing, cleaning, and de-cluttering: “WOW! I didn’t realize how much stuff I had.”
Nobody ever tells us they had a lot less. Why am I telling you this? Because people often also think they can collect some boxes from the LCBO or grocery store, and that will do.
An investment of around $100 will get you proper packing supplies and reduce stress. Go to a good moving company or storage location and get wardrobe boxes, dish wrap, dish boxes, and packing boxes, and consider some plastic storage boxes for valuables.
Also, if you don’t have a location you can store your stuff, get quotes for storage locations. Only use your garage as a storage container if possible. Buyers want to know if the kids’ toys and cars can fit.
Take the day and collect all your cleaning supplies packing supplies, and get storage quotes to have a clear plan to start the next stages.
Also, make sure you have a spare key cut! We need it to get in and out of your house and show potential buyers.
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Let The De-clutter-ing Begin!
Before starting this process, you should have a transparent system. Marking items for storage, donation, or to be thrown away. You can design separate areas to store things and make sure you have pre-arranged pick-ups with local charities, etc.
This part of the moving process can often be emotional, and, commonly, it will stretch out over days. Everyone works at their own pace, and there is no right or wrong way.
Often people start with their basement storage area and then move on to the house’s main rooms. You can find items you are sure you no longer want or need. You will be amazed at how much more space you generate around the house by purging.
Why do we do this? Clearing storage space and removing clutter makes the home look more prominent and allows buyers to visualize living in the house themselves.
Also, we have seen people heartbroken because, in the frenzy of preparing their house, they discarded items they shouldn’t have. Take your time and make the correct choice for yourself!
Closet Space
As much as you may love to have six different suit options, ten pantsuits, 15 summer dresses, and a wide variety of designer shoes in your closet, ask yourself a question. What will a potential buyer see? They will likely see a cramped closet.
Buyers will look in your closets. The last thing you want them to think is that there isn’t enough space in your home, so take the time to pack away what you don’t currently use or need.
Could you clean the front hall closet, kids’ closets, linen closets, and toy cupboards?
It is a pain, but it is temporary and worth it.
That Model Home Feeling
Sorry, but it is time to turn your home into a model home that prospective buyers can see themselves living in.
Remove all the family photos, souvenirs, and kids’ artwork.
TIP: Don’t repair nail holes! Buy prints from Etsy.com, print them at work and replace the pictures in the frames.
Catch Up On Repairs
We all have a list of repairs, replacements, and fixes that we have been avoiding.
Now’s the time to get to it, including fixing the leaky faucet, the picture holes in the wall, etc. and get it done once and for all.
If you aren’t handy, bring in a friend or hire a handyperson to take care of the work.
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What Room Was That?
If possible, return all rooms to their intended use (bedrooms should be bedrooms, the dining room isn’t a painting studio, etc.).
Buyers often see multiple houses a day, and you want them to have a clear picture of your home.
TIP: Need another bed for a spare bedroom? Use large cardboard boxes to make a bed shape and then dress it like a bed. It’s what home stagers do, and nobody notices unless they decide to sit down!
What Is On The Walls & HAnging On The Walls
It is incredible what some magic erasers, soap & water can accomplish!
If your walls and doors are scuffed, buy some Magic Erasers and go to town. You’ll wonder why you didn’t do it sooner.
If your art collection needs an update, now’s the time to do it!
Bathrooms
The same rules that apply to the rest of the house apply to the bathroom – less is more.
Get some small plastic tubs for all your toiletries. This way, you can quickly bring them out when you need them and put them away neatly.
Invest in new white towels (no, you don’t get to use them).
Visit Winners or Homesense for affordable accessories (soap dish, toothbrush holder, etc.). If your toilet seat, shower curtain or bath mat are old, replace them.
Could you consider replacing the toilet paper holder and towel rack/hooks too?
Kitchens – Perhaps The Most Important Room In The House
Clear your countertops. Remove your blender/grill/kitchen aid mixer/toaster/bread machine/microwave from the counters. Have as much counter space as possible.
Clean inside all the cupboards and remove all the contents you don’t need. Reduce the number of plates, mugs, and cups in the cabinets.
Clean the fridge inside & out (and remove the magnets, photos and reminders).
Could you turn on your self-cleaning oven?
When taking your photos, could you add some fresh flowers?
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Bedrooms
Bedrooms should be warm, comfortable, and inviting.
Consider investing in neutral-coloured duvet covers, throws, and pillows. Remove personal photos, knick-knacks and personal grooming products. Consider getting an area rug if the floors are cold.
If you have excess furniture that doesn’t fit into the space, consider storing it offsite.
TIP: When your home is on the market, make your beds daily so showings can happen at the last minute.
Living Room
Clean the sofa, chairs, and book/display cases.
If your furniture is older, consider buying some new throw pillows and blankets and cleaning them professionally.
Can you get an area rug to bring the room together?
Hide the magazine racks, clutter, and wires from your TV/stereo/speakers.
Remember, fresh flowers and plants can help brighten a room.
Dining Room
Clear the table. Clean the cabinet and display cases. Remove excess alcohol and decorations.
If your dining chairs have seen better days, consider chair covers. You can rent these from most party places; consider investing in a new tablecloth to hide an old table.
For photo & video shoot day, consider having the table set perfectly as if you are hosting a dinner party.
Entrance / Mudroom
The front yard will form the first impression of your home in a buyer’s mind, and the entrance will be the second.
The entrance to your home should be clean, de-cluttered and inviting; the same applies to any mudroom or rear door.
Keep the necessities out (shoes, hats, coats, etc.), but anything you can live without, pack away.
Keep your front hall closet clean and organized and any coat racks or hooks clear.
Painting
Now that your home has been de-cluttered, cleaned and organized, and the touch-ups and repairs have been made, it is time to look at the next step.
One of the cheapest and easiest ways to freshen a house is to apply a fresh coat of paint.
Avoid bold colours and aim for warm and neutral. If it is within your budget, hire a professional. If you are not good at painting or feel rushed, mistakes will be made, which will be evident to home buyers.
Tip: Light colours will help small rooms look more extensive, and don’t forget about baseboards and ceilings.
Hire Some Professionals
Could you hire a professional cleaner to clean your home from top to bottom? The time is, so it is pristine when your realtor brings in a photographer.
Have rugs shampooed, windows washed, and every last inch dusted.
You only have one chance to make an excellent first impression. The photos and videos are essential features of your listing.
Ultimately, as your agent, we want to attract as many people to your home as possible and professional photos and videos will do that.
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Yardwork
Curb appeal matters!
It is the first in-person impression potential buyers will have of your home, which can significantly impact a potential buyer’s showing at your home.
Does your front door or garage door need a coat of paint?
Would you like to clean the eavestrough, stain the deck or repair the shed?
Is the front porch clean, organized, and inviting? Are plants overgrown? Do you need to fix patches on the lawn because of pets?
Of course, this also applies to the backyard.
Make It Smell Good
A home that smells bad is one of the biggest turn-offs for house hunters, and pets and dampness cause the most common odours found in homes.
If you are a pet owner, wash any couches, beds and surfaces where they sleep.
Ensure the pet’s bed, toys and the litter box is tucked away. Ensure the litter box is consistently cleaned while your home is on the market.
Tip: Ask a friend or neighbour to give you an honest opinion. Don’t get upset with the truth. Also, could you consider using all-natural all-natural scented candles? And they are trendy at the moment.
Have A Plan For The Family
Once your house hits the market, people will start making appointments. Figure out:
Where the kids and pets are going
A strategy for cleaning up toys for last-minute showings
If potential family members can help with last-minute tidying
TIP: If your realtor has warned you that you should expect many showings, consider moving out for a little while. Now is a great time to go on that vacation!
Elevate Real Estate Team (Stewart Blair, Brittany Wurfel, & Jeremy Odland)
Hopefully, you found our guide helpful. Feel free to reach out at any time if we can be of any help
Stewart, Brittany, & Jeremy
Happy House Hunting & Selling
Want more details on the current market? You can find more information about the current market here: London & St Thomas Association of Realtors.
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