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Preparing Your House To Sell Understanding The Buyer s Fantasy
hen selling your home,
there's so much to do and
getting the highest
selling price possible is A lot of people who look at your
probably the most important thing home will not like it. It's
to be considered. Yes, there are usually the "un-changeable"
a lot of things to think about things they don't care for, like
but the bottom line is getting the floor-plan, the location,
the most you can possibly get. what school you're zoned to,
Sometimes, your situation will whether there's a pool or not, if
dictate whether or not you can you have big trees or not, and so
fully utilize the suggestions on, you get the picture. These
we're going to cover in this are the things that can't be
article but understanding the changed and these people just
what's going on in the buyer's don't like them. Don't worry,
mind will help you to get focused everyone's different and you
on what needs to be done first can't change these things either.
and what can wait until later.
The first thing you need to There will, however, be plenty of
understand is the psychology of people who love your
your potential buyers. These "un-changeables". For these
people, in their minds, are people it will be the
trying to size-up your house and "changeable" things that convince
how it will fit into their lives. them to actually make an offer or
They are trying to figure out if just keep looking. So, what are
they will be happy having your the things that will convince
house as their home. these potential buyers to fall in
love with your house? thing you want to do is take them
out of their "buyer's fantasy" by
reminding them of the
responsibilities that come with
First, put yourself in one of owning a house, especially THIS
these buyer's shoes, this house. You want them to live in
shouldn't be hard because you their "fantasy" the entire length
were there once, when you bought of their visit, you even want
YOUR house. This person is in a them to remember the "fantasy" in
state of mind that can be such a way that they want to
compared to a fantasy, we'll call return and soon.
it "buyer's fantasy". They come
through your house trying to
"see" what it would be like
living there. In their mind's So, what to do you need to do set
eye, they "see" themselves always the "buyer's fantasy" in motion?
wearing a smile and laughing with Here's a short list.
their friends and family. They
"see" themselves entertaining,
relaxing, doing the things they
love and loving the place they're First Impressions
doing it.
Curb Appeal - The front outside
Unapparent to them, all the of your house is the first thing
things they "see" themselves the prospective buyer sees. It's
doing leaves little time for the beginning of his "buyer
cleaning, organizing, or home fantasy". He sees his friends and
maintenance and repair. The last family admiring him when they
arrive at his front door. It had "· seasonal color? - all the
better be good, this will reflect better
on him.
Obvious repairs need to be made.
Your house must, with an emphasis
on must, look good from the "· make sure gutters are attached
moment he drives up with his
realtor, in other words, from the
car. First impressions are very "· shutters are attached
important and the front of your
home is the first thing the "· the doorbell works
potential buyer sees. So, at
minimum, make sure "· screens have no tears
"· replace rotten wood
"· the landscaping is maintained "· paint is in good shape, if
at all times not, paint or at least touch-up
"· the lawn is mowed and edged
"· the grass is green If you normally park more than
two cars in the driveway or on
"· the hedges are neatly trimmed the street in front, see if you
can find another place to park
"· the landscaping or flower beds until the house is sold. Maybe a
are weed-free and mulched neighbor will help you out, or
park one car in the garage.
eliminate cooking odors as
quickly as possible after a meal
is cooked and there should be no
What you want to do is feed the pet odors or cigarette smoke
"buyer's fantasy" that the lawn odors. Pet and smoking odors are
is always green, cut, and one of the first things that will
beautiful. You don't want to turn a potential buyer away. Even
remind him that he will have to if they smoke and own pets
do it. You want him to think themselves, they don't want to
there's plenty of room for his buy another person's odors.
cars even if he decides he needs
another one. You certainly don't
want him to think about any minor
repairs that will need to be Kitchen & Bathrooms - Once
done, so just do them yourself. inside, the two rooms that go
through the most scrutiny are the
bathrooms and the kitchen. These
rooms MUST be immaculately clean.
The Insides They also must look like they
have lots of room. To accomplish
this:
First Things First - When a
potential buyer steps into the
house, it needs to smell clean. "· clean thoroughly, especially
You don't need or want to burn the floors, toilets, sinks and
incense or candles, spray air tubs
fresheners, or have a Glade
Plug-In going. It just needs to "· be sure there is no mold or
smell clean. You should try to mildew to be found
"· check the grout in the tubs
and sinks, it needs to be white -
bleach it or re-grout if it's Remember, you want to continue
necessary the fantasy. The potential buyer
should be able to imagine that
"· clear your counter-tops as when they move in, there will be
much as possible - in the bath, plenty of space to grow. You
leave out only one decorative don't want to remind him that
item, in the kitchen leave out he'll have to do any cleaning,
only the necessary appliances, as seeing cleaning products is a
few as possible reminder. The personal items? Do
your best, it's hard for the
"· clear everything off the front "buyer's fantasy" to be fulfilled
and top of the fridge when your photos and personal
items are everywhere, you want
"· put all cleansers and cleaning him to imagine "his" personal
items out of sight items in those spaces, having
yours there makes it harder for
"· pack for moving some of the his imagination.
stuff in the cabinets, you only
want them to be about 60%-70%
full
Living Areas / Bedrooms
"· put all personal items away,
there should be no clutter, no
bills or mail laying out, no
personal items pinned to a The rest of the house needs to
bulletin board or attached to the follow the same rules as above.
fridge with a magnet
"· everything needs to be clean able to fill the space.
Eliminating some of your
"· keep floors mopped and furniture may help a room look
vacuumed bigger and packing away some of
the stuff in your closets will
"· make all beds every morning help sell your house as one that
has "lots of storage space". Your
"· keep clutter out of sight goal should be for your closets
to only be 50%-60% full.
"· if you have a room that's an
odd color, paint it an off-white
color. Light colors make rooms
look bigger and off-white will go Packing Tip
with every decorating scheme -
the "buyer's fantasy" doesn't
include any time for re-painting
Here's a tip to help you get your
"· if you have repairs to make, cabinets and closets down to 50%
get them done full - go ahead and start packing
for your eventual move. Yeah, why
"· if carpets need to be cleaned, not? Your goal is to sell your
clean them house, right? So you'll be
moving, right? Then go ahead and
get some of it done and here's a
helpful tip to get you started
Making your space appear bigger and make unpacking in your new
is your goal, again, you want the home easier as well.
"buyer fantasy" to continue. You
want your house to appear so
roomy that the buyer won't be
Most people have stuff they those items back into the house.
A. use every day If that doesn't get your closets
and cabinets down to where you
B. use sometimes want them, then start packing
your "B" items. If you use bright
C. rarely use colored paper to mark your "Cs"
and "Bs", use one color for all
your "Cs" and a different color
for all your "Bs".
Start by packing your "C" items
in nice stackable boxes that
aren't too large so they're easy
to handle. Mark the side of the When it's time for you to move,
each box with where the stuff you will then have to pack all
came from, i.e., the closet, your "A" items. Again, use yet a
which room it came from, i.e., different color of paper. Now,
Brittany's Room, and put a BIG when you get to your new home,
letter "C" on the side. Maybe you won't have to unpack
even use some bright paper, like everything at once and you'll
yellow or orange and tape it to know which boxes you'll need
the side with the letter written immediately.
really big with a Magic Marker.
Stack these boxes in the garage,
people don't much care how
crowded the garage is, they just Hopefully your situation will
figure you've started packing. allow you to use some of these
The "buyer's fantasy" doesn't put strategies to help you get the
most money from your home. But showing it and keep plugging
don't let all this stuff stop you away.
from getting your house on the
market, don't use all the things
that need to be done as an excuse
to not get going. Do what you Good luck with the process!
can, get the house listed, start
About the Author:
Reba Collins is a homeowner and work at home mom. Follow her journey to sell her home of 18 years at her blog ~ http://www.PuttingUpTheForSaleSign.com. Find out how she copes with all it takes to sell her home and whether or not she follows her own good advise. Also find links, reviews for products, services, contractors and more!
Source: www.isnare.com
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