Prepare to Sell Your Home This Spring
Can you feel it in the air? Spring Equinox is just around the corner – March 20! – and spring fever is setting in. Flowers are starting to pop up in gardens, the days are getting {a bit} warmer and sunnier, we’re getting the urge to clean up the cobwebs, and dreaming of warm days spent outside.
One clear indication you’ve caught spring fever – you’re thinking about listing your house to sell. It’s a common time for people to consider this, and it’s also historically the busiest time in real estate. If you feel like this is the year to list your home for sale, now is the time to take some steps to get it ready.
Remove personal artifacts
Take down family photos, remove keepsakes, and pack up personal collections. Once you make the decision to sell, it’s time to disassociate your emotions from the house, which will make it easier to part with.
Organize your closets and cabinets
Pack up anything you won’t need during the selling process. You won’t need all your winter-weight clothing and linens until next year, so get a head start on packing and store them away. Evaluate what’s in your kitchen cabinets, and pack away entertaining dishes, excess tupperware, small appliances, and anything you don’t use regularly.
Move large furniture out
Rent a storage unit and move any large pieces of furniture out of the home. Think bookshelves (and all their books!), dressers, sofas, desks, armoires, and more. The home should look spacious and have a good flow to it, making it easy for potential buyers to envision their belongings in the house.
Paint rooms neutral colours
The longer you’ve lived in your home, the more of your personality you’ve injected into it. When you list your home, it’s time to remove that personality and replace it with neutral colours, but without being too bland. A discussion on Houzz recommends a variety of off-white, beige, and grey shades in an almost flat sheen.
Take care of any minor repairs
Now is the time to tighten knobs, fix leaky faucets, replace cracked tiles, and freshen up bedspreads and towels. These small tasks, paired with a fresh coat of paint, will make your home shine for potential buyers.
Clean, clean, clean, and clean some more
Lay out a plan to clean your home from top to bottom. Be sure to deep-clean high-traffic areas you may have neglected over the years. You may not notice, but your wooden bannister probably has some well established grime. Hit it first with a dish detergent mixture to cut the grease, then follow up with a wood furniture cleaner and some elbow grease to get it back to it’s clean condition.
There are lots of articles available online with tips and checklists to follow. If you can’t wrap your head around identifying these steps, your realtor and a home stager can give you some guidance. To help take care of these tasks, hire a contractor or handyman and a cleaning company.
