Clean, Spotless, Immaculate!

You have removed all the clutter from your home and de-personalized it. Now it's time to deep clean, and I mean DEEP. We want your home to shimmer and sparkle with sunlight streaming through windows and reflexing off polished surfaces, and shining in the eyes of your buyer. That is our goal, to shine! This will reflect pride of ownership; the home has been well-loved, taken care of, and maintained to the max!

Unpleasant Odors

Your house may have odors you are not even aware of because you are so used to smelling them every day, but this is the number one turn-off to a potential buyer. It may send a buyer away as soon as they enter your home, or at the very least, seriously affect the sale price of your property. Common odors include pet odor, urine, mold, mildew, strong cooking odors, and cigarette smoke.  You need to remove the smells, but whatever you do, don't try to mask them with room deodorizers, and it will only make it worse. 

Keep your pet clean—ditto for pet beds and litter boxes.  If shampooing your carpet does not remove pet smells, you will need to replace it. Avoid strong cooking odors and deep-frying, and remove visible mold or mildew with a bleach solution.  If you smoke in your home, stop.  To remove smoke odor, you can try a product such as Vamoose.   If that does not work, you may want to consider hiring a professional service such as Puroclean to remove the smell of cigarette smoke from your home.

Through and...

Now that you have de-cluttered, depersonalized, and refreshed the interior of your house as you prepare to list it for sale, let's continue the process on the outside.  I cannot over-emphasize how important a role curb appeal can play in the sale of your home.  It is that all-important first impression and the only appearance that matters at times.  Potential buyers may decide not to buy your house in those first few seconds. No matter how good the interior may be, they have judged your home in those critical first few seconds. It's most important to make people feel safe, warm, and welcome as they approach your home. Let's look at ten ways to wow them on that first critical look.

1. Landscaping

Trim shrubs and trees. If you have dead or dying shrubs, replace them. Compare your landscaping to other homes in the area to see if it is comparable. If it is not, consider planting some shrubbery.  Shrubs are a better choice than trees since immature specimens do little to enhance the landscaping and mature trees are very expensive. If you currently...

Refresh, Refurbish, Repair or Replace - Oh My!

After you de-clutter and depersonalize, it's time to review your house room by room and neutralize, repair, replace and refresh.  Since you are selling your home, we do not want to invest in expensive repairs or mammoth remodels so our goal is to look for ways to make your house appealing to buyers at minimal cost to you, the seller. Keeping that objective in mind, we want you to Invest your time and money in easy fixes that will pay off by bringing you top dollar for your home!

However, and it cannot be overstated, you may love every color and accept every imperfection, but to a potential buyer, these will be reasons not to purchase your property, make you a low offer, and believe me they will be looking for explanations. We do not want to provide them with any, so let's begin in the home's interior, starting with the kitchen, which can often make or break a sale.

...