In light of July 15th being 'Give something away day', what better time to talk about decluttering, and other low cost things you can do to your home to improve not only it's curb appeal but its overall marketability.
1. Declutter Cost- $0
This is probably one of the easiest and least costly things you can do to your home prior to listing. Clean up countertops, discard any extra clothing that you no longer need, laundry room looking a mess all the time? Time to remove anything unnessecary. Walking through your kitchen and feel like there is no counter space? Take some time to consider what is on top of those counters and what makes sense to be removed. Loose papers - toss them out or file them. Lots of loose blankets or messy unstructured beds, make sure you clean those up too! Put away those blankets. Decluttering comes in many forms, and a practice that I strongly recommend doing at least once a season to keep not only your organizational structure in tact but your sanity. There is some great content on decluttering on Netfix - Check out Marie Kondo or the Home Edit!
2. De-personalize Cost - $0
One thing many of us don't think about if you are choosing not to work with a professional stager is how a home can make a buyer feel when they do their viewing. We want them to see themselves enjoying the property and the home as their own, instead of feeling like they are in someone elses home. Some easy steps to help with this are to remove personal photo's from the walls, or anything with your name on it. ie - a sign outside with your family name etc. Anything that identifies your home as yours could be removed and replaced with more decorative items, or simply removed. This also include artwork that could be on your fridge.
3. Freshen up Paint Cost $100-$300
There is alot that a fresh coat of paint can't fix and refresh. I would always suggest taking the time to fill, sand and repaint any wall damage. A quick paint refresh is something you can do yourself, at the cost of some polyfil, sandpaper and paint. It also gives the opportunity to ensure that the paint colour in the rooms of your home not only matches but is condusive to a mass appeal. For example - neutral colours in bedrooms and living areas as opposed to bright or mixed colours of different colour palettes
4. Weed. Trim. Cut. Cost - $0
This is so important for your outside space - be sure to keep gardens clear of weeds. There is no requirement to be any kind of gardener (trust me I can relate with my brown thumbed friends), but removing just the weeds and keeping the grass cut and manicured during the showing process can go very far to promoting your property as people drive or walk by, and buyers come to view it. Clean edging is automatically appealing to the human brain - we love structure and neatness as a species! Most current home owners already own the tools to complete this task so ideally this is a quick and easy one that just requires some elbow grease;
I hope you enjoyed these suggestions and find them valuable in the journey to sell your home. I would love to hear your thoughts and any additional low cost suggestions! in a future blog post I will talk about some mid to more expensive options that can be completed to really optimize the sellers market, be sure to sign up for notifications so you don't miss out!
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