HOW TO PREPARE YOUR HOME FOR SELLING

by Brian Ochsner
6/24/2006

Today’s real estate market has slowed down from the frenzied pace of the last year or two. In a more challenging market, it’s more important to know and do the basics of good home selling to ensure it gets sold quickly and for the best price possible.
I’ll cover tips to home selling in this article. Don’t be offended if they seem too basic or you already know these home selling tips, some folks reading this may not. Let’s get started!

Home Selling Tip #1 -- Make sure the inside and outside of the home are clean and eye appealing.
Think of it as a ‘first date’ for your home with a potential buyer. If you show up dressed sloppily or don’t shower before your first date with someone of the opposite sex, the chances aren’t too good you’ll get a 2nd date. The same applies to selling your home, especially since women make most decisions on buying a home.
A woman’s definition of ‘clean’ is a lot different (and usually at a higher standard) than a man’s. That’s just human nature, and I can say that being a guy. If the house isn’t up to ‘girl clean’ standards, that’s a big strike against you selling the home to that potential buyer. Make sure the floors are mopped, carpets are vacuumed, windows are washed, and your front lawn is mowed and looks good. You don’t get a second chance at a first impression. If a buyer’s first view of a home (also called ‘curb appeal’) isn’t a good one, this will also hurt your chances of selling your home.

Home Selling Tip #2 -- Keep the colors of carpeting and paint on the inside and outside of the house as neutral as possible.
Think beige, tan or off-white-type colors. Even if you love the hot pink or fire engine red paint or carpeting, your prospective buyer may not. If they want to put their personal touch with loud colors in the home, and they end up buying your home, you can negotiate a carpet or paint allowance into the contract.
Home Selling Tip #3 -- Keep all potentially offensive pictures or symbols out of sight.
Remember what three topics you should never discuss in polite company: Sex, politics, or religion. Buying decisions are based on emotion and justified by logic. Since women make most of the home buying decisions, this factor is even more important. Even if you love your picture with you shaking hands with Bill or Hillary Clinton or George W. Bush, your buyer may not. The goal is to get your home sold, not to convert the buyer to your way of thinking.
The same goes for pictures of half-naked women (or men) around your home. Again, even if the poster of Britney Spears or Brad Pitt looks great to you, it could bring up feelings of insecurity in women, and possibly a few guys. Since successful home selling is based on positive emotions and feelings, you don’t want to bring up anything potentially negative.
Whether you like it or not, we live in a hyper-sensitive, politically correct world where more than a few folks seem to get offended daily at the drop of a hat. Hopefully they’re not your potential buyers. However, in this day and age, you just never know. You don’t want to give a prospective buyer any possible reason to get offended. It’s best to err on the side of caution with political or sexual images, and religious ones as well.
Unless you know every one of your potential buyers are of the same faith as yours, you probably want to keep religious symbols, books and other materials out of sight. It’s one of the three ‘hot button’ topics you parents told you never to discuss in polite company.

Home Selling Tip #3 -- Maintain good relations with neighbors.
Hopefully you have good relations with the folks who live next to you. To maintain those good relations, you’ll want to give them a ‘heads-up’ what your plans are for your house. Let them know they may see some potential buyers stopping by to look at the house, and what days/times these buyers will be coming.
To ease the possible inconvenience of increased traffic in your neighborhood, you might consider giving one or more of your neighbor’s movie, water park or amusement park tickets that they (and their family) can use on one of the days/times the prospective buyers will be stopping by. If your budget is a little tight, invite them over for dinner or a neighborhood cookout. You can also offer to walk their dog or watch their kids – your only expense will be your time.

Home Selling Tip #4 -- Make sure to have potential buyers pre-qualified.
You, or the realtor selling your home, have to have your prospective buyers pre-qualified. This means they have the cash and/or credit to actually BUY it. They don’t get inside your house until they prove it. Nothing’s more frustrating than to have ‘tire kickers’ look at your house, get excited, then you find out they don’t have a financial prayer of buying it.
These are my keys to successful home selling: Keep it clean, don’t offend, keep your neighbors happy, and pre-qualify prospective buyers. By following these rules, you’ll make it easier on yourself and your family during this time of your life.

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