Here’s what sellers can do to ensure their home leaves a wonderful first impression on buyers.

As a seller, you naturally want to sell your home quickly and for as much money as possible. Following these 10 tips will help you go a long way toward that goal: 

1. Improve your landscaping. Look at your home through the eyes of a buyer who’s just driven up to it for the first time; is it welcoming? Is the yard well-kempt, bushes trimmed, and flower beds mulched?

2. Clean the outside of your home. Powerwash the siding, clean the windows, and tackle any easy outdoor repairs. You never get a chance to redo a first impression, so help your home’s exterior make a good one. 

3. Make those simple repairs. Address doors that don’t latch, toilets or sinks that leak, or anything else that will almost certainly show up on an inspection report. If you can make a simple fix now, it’s always better to do so than wait until a buyer counts it against you. 

4. Make the front door inviting. Give it a fresh coat of paint—you’ll be surprised by how big of a difference this makes from a buyer’s perspective. While you’re at, replace the address numbers near your door if they’re faded or barely visible for some other reason. 

5. Get a new doormat. It’s another cheap step that can help buyers visualize how warm and inviting that home can be. 

6. Remove clutter and depersonalize. Make your home look like a hotel—minimalistic layout with no personal/sentimental belongings visible. Take personal photos down and rent a storage unit so that you have a place to put items that may be overcrowding a room in your home. 

7. Organize closets and drawers. Make sure that at least 25% of your closet is free, open space. This gives the impression that the space inside them is ample, and that the home’s storage areas will be impossible to fill. 

8. Make surfaces shine. Have your home professionally detailed (if you need the name of a trustworthy company, please reach out to me). Get into the moldings, blinds, ceiling vents—the areas you probably don’t routinely clean. 

9. Tone down the colors. If you have a lime green dining room or bathroom, keep in mind that not everybody will enjoy that loud of a color. Opt for neutral colors when you repaint. 

10. Neutralize odors. The last thing you want to have is a buyer whose nose is immediately assaulted by pet odors, like a cat’s litter box. If you use air fresheners, though, don’t overdo it; you don’t want to blast buyers with store-bought fragrances to the point that they suspect you’re covering something up. Bake cookies or bread, as it produces that lovely “at home” smell. 

As always, reach out to me if you have additional questions about this or any other real estate-related topic. I’m happy to help.