When Selling a Home: It’s the little things that count!

An important, yet often overlooked, element to a successful home sale is the home’s initial appeal, its first impression.  Interior and exterior design, quality, and cleanliness ultimately attract potential buyers.  While general condition and large-scale staging seem obvious, the smaller details frequently determine the success of a sale.  Before putting you home on the market, view your home as a potential buyer; walk through it like you’re seeing it for the first time, and address all the fine details before your first open house.  When selling, it’s important to consider five aspects of home sale preparation that are often overlooked:

1.     Just because you “can live with it,” doesn’t mean everyone can -- While many are not bothered by a creaky door or leaky sink, or a cabinet that sticks, these small problems, coupled together -- can have an unintended negative effect on a home sale.  When preparing to sell your home, repairing minor flaws is important.  Some buyers will walk away with the feeling that you haven’t cared for home – that if you let the little things go, you might not have paid attention to the major upkeep. 

2.     Don’t just de-personalize and de-clutter -- Depersonalizing and de-cluttering are integral to staging a home for an open house.  However, removing portraits from walls and consolidating clutter may reveal more damage.  Newly bare walls are often peppered with nail marks, faded paint, discoloration and stains.  Take the time to fill the holes and sand and repaint the walls.  Similarly, de-cluttering a home may expose stained carpets and dirty floors, prompting immediate cleaning.  Sometimes just cleaning carpets and adding a fresh coat of paint can make all the difference.

3.     Cleaning counts -- Years of wear and tear begin to show up in even newer homes.  Take a fresh look at your home.  If grime has built up and the house doesn’t shine, consider hiring a cleaning crew to do some deep cleaning or a handy man to paint rusting radiators. When cleaning your home, do your best to reverse those age marks. 

4.    Things will get messy -- Maintaining the quality of your home proves equally as important as the initial preparation.   Showings and open houses attract buyers, but they often leave traces of dirt and dust throughout the home.  Showings are sometimes last minute so make every effort to keep the house clean and tidy on a day to day basis between showings. While a home remains on the market, it’s important it remains clean.  If you are away while your home is on the market, make sure you have a caretaker paying attention to the details. 

5.   Step outside the box – While focusing your attention on the inside of your home is key, paying attention to its outward appearance is critical, too.  In the summer, be sure your lawn is mowed and watered, beds are mulched and overgrowth is trimmed.  This is the time of year when inattention to your landscaping will be quite noticeable.  Remember, curb appeal is what draws most buyers to walk through the front door of a home.

Prepping a home for sale can involve a lot of work, so give yourself enough time to check off all the items on your own personal “punch list” before you list it.  If you don’t know where to start, it’s best to consult a real estate sales professional.  Most brokers have seen it all, and can advise you on what’s most important.  Recognizing and eliminating these seemingly small problems can payoff in a big way, and ensure a quick and successful sale.

Debi Benoit, principal of Benoit Mizner Simon & Co., has been Wellesley’s #1 real estate agent since 2006.  The Wall Street Journal twice ranked her among the top 100 real estate professionals in the country.  With offices in Wellesley and Weston, Benoit Mizner Simon & Co provides buyers and sellers in both markets with in-depth knowledge and experience combined with unparalleled client service.

With offices in Wellesley and Weston, Debi can be reached at 617-962-9292 or debi@benoitmiznersimon.com.