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Preparing Your Home To Sell Fast - Part 1 You never get a second chance at making a first impression. We’ve all heard that tired phrase time and time again. But how true it is when selling your house. It only takes the average buyer a couple of minutes to decide they don’t like your ho  use! If they don’t get that warm
feeling right away, chances are they won’t hang around long enough to learn to
love your house.
If you’re thinking about selling your house…or your house is already for sale and not selling…you need to know what’s in this report. Most of us love our homes and have learned to overlook the minor flaws we live with day to day. You can be sure a prospective buyer won’t do the same.
Start at The Curb
The first thing people see when they come to view your house is the view from the curb. And that view speaks volumes. As a real estate investor, I can usually judge how a house looks on the inside by what it looks like on the outside. If it shows years of neglect on the outside, it’s a fairly safe bet the inside is suffering from neglect as well.
While a homeowner may not have the same critical eye as I do…if they are turned off by what they see on the outside…they may never even get to see the inside. Or, they’ll just give it a quick walk through and give you a polite “thank you.” That’ll be the last you here from them.
Lawn & Landscaping
You’ll need to make sure you yard stays mowed and the landscaping is properly pruned. That is assuming you have good landscaping. If not, you already have one strike against you. You need to make sure that your landscaping is at a bare minimum average with the neighborhood.
If you don’t have good landscaping, at least invest in a few bushes, mulch, and flowers. It’s too late to plant trees. Young trees will do very little to improve the appearance of your house. If you have a place for some flowers, these will add a nice splash of color to the front of your house. Plant some that are already mature and blooming.
You should invest in some fertilizer, weed killer, water, pieces of sod or whatever your lawn needs to make it look good. This should be one of the first steps so it has time grow and improve. You want to make sure your sidewalks and driveway are properly edged and all leaves and grass cuttings are raked up. If you have a dog, make sure that you scoop up the “little piles” daily.
House Exterior
Is your siding dirty or growing mold? Would pressure washing help or does it need paint? If your house needs paint, make sure the siding and the trim are two different colors that look nice together.
If you paint, make sure you choose a color that fits well with your neighborhood and fits the style of your home. Shades of yellow seem to be a popular color. You can get good ideas by driving the neighborhood.
You can dress up the house by adding shutters, a brass kick plate, and brass doorknocker to the front door. Replace the light fixtures by the front door if they are looking worn. Paint the front door if it needs it. Get a new doormat. Make sure your front door lock opens easily so Realtors can get in without fumbling. Such things cost very little but can have a big impact.
If your roof is old and stained then you may need to consider replacing or cleaning it. Many mortgage companies require at least four years of life be left on a roof. Underwriters for mortgage companies will send out an inspector to drive buy and look at the roof. If it looks like it doesn’t have a lot of life left, they won’t finance the house.
If your roof leaks, you’ll have to disclose this to a buyer and then you’ll end up replacing it anyway. So you might as well just go ahead and replace it now. A new roof will do a lot to sell your house.
If your roof is just stained, you can get a special cleaner that works along with a power washer to remove most stains. This really does a lot to help the appearance of a stained roof.
Improving the curb appeal of your house can add a lot of dollars to offers from potential homebuyers. In the Part Two I will move to the inside of the house.
Tim Bruxvoort http://www.commercialrealestateinsider.com http://www.homebasedriches.com http://www.remedyhomebuyers.com
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