BE PREPARED.

This is pretty solid advice for almost any situation you’re bound to encounter in this life, dontcha think? You know, things like illness, a new baby, or some sort of Zombie Apocalypse.

For our purposes, however, we’re only concerned with one situation, and that’s selling your house.

BE PREPARED.

That’s right, you’re selling your house and it’s time. You’re gonna be prepared, you know, like a Boy Scout (just without the snazzy uniform).

First, take a look at your house like you’re a potential buyer. Forget that this is your house, look at it like someone who’s never seen it before. What do you notice?

Make a list of all the things that catch your eye—dings, dents, scratches, and so on—and make a point to fix them or replace things that can’t be repaired.

Break up with your home. Seriously. Say goodbye and stop thinking of your house like a home. Now that it’s time to sell, it can’t be personal. Take the “it’s not you, it’s me” approach and start thinking of this place not as your home, but just as a house. It’s just a thing. It’ll make taking care of the business at hand that much simpler.

Don’t worry. It’s all part of being prepared. Did we mention that you should be prepared?

While we’re on the subject of personal attachments (which we totally were), take all of your family photos, tchotchkes, knick knacks and personal STUFF and box it up. First of all, it’ll help reduce your overall clutter, and that’s a really good thing. More than that, though, it’ll make things more appealing to buyers when they come in the house to take a look. If they see all of your happy family snapshots and such, it’ll be really hard for them to imagine their own stuff in there. Give people the chance to envision their own lives unfolding in the house.

Another thing you can do to make things easier for your potential buyers to see themselves in your home is to neutralize things. If you’ve made any bold color or pattern choices (remember, not everyone wants red walls or magnificently flocked wallpaper, it’d be a really good idea to undo those choices. Paint walls something neutral like cream, taupe, tan … you know: make it vanilla. Oh, and if you have wallpaper, do yourself a favor and take it down (it’s one of the biggest turnoffs for buyers, even if you think it’s fabulous).

Here’s this post’s 2×4 over the head:
BE PREPARED (in case we hadn’t said it enough times).

Buyers are snoopy. They’re going to look in your kitchen cabinets and in your closets (really, they will). Arrange your pantry, fridge, and closets like you’re a cast member from “Sleeping With The Enemy.” Face the labels on cans. Straighten things. Hang your clothes so they’re all facing the right direction. Line up your shoes like ducks in a row. It’s a little thing, but neatness sells.

Clean the ever-loving shazam out of the house. Get rid of all your unnecessary junk. Go to town cleaning the place like your last name is Lysol. If you don’t want to, spend a couple of hundred bucks on a cleaning service to come in and spit polish everyhing. Consider having the windows professionally cleaned (you can’t believe what an immense impact something like this can have).

We can’t stress it strongly enough: BE PREPARED.

When it comes to selling your home, being prepared can make all the difference. Here at Urban Provision, REALTORS® (that’s us), we have scads more ideas about things you can do to amp up the “OOH! AHH!” factor in your home and making it as appealing as possible for buyers coming into the house.

Be prepared. Urban Provision, REALTORS® is prepared. And we’re prepared to help YOU get there, too.