If you’re thinking about selling your home in the next year or two, now is the right time to start working towards making it market-ready. But don’t panic! Without too much work or expense, you can apply a few of my simple tips and increase your home’s appeal and sale potential. 

Think Like a Buyer 

In order to make your place appeal to buyers, you’ll have to think like one. House hunters are often buying because they’re entering a new stage of life, like getting married, having a first child, expanding a family, or downsizing. That’s why the location and size of a house are often top priorities. Based on your home’s location and size, you’ll know a few things about your target market, and you can start thinking about how to stage and prepare your home to best appeal to that audience of potential buyers. For example, if you live in a three-bedroom home with a finished basement in a neighborhood with an excellent school district, family-oriented folks are likely your buyers and you can prepare your home accordingly.

Streamline Your Interior

The first step in the process of prepping your home is to declutter. For the best results, think catalogue photo shoot! This is an incredible opportunity to go through your belongings to minimize and donate unneeded, unused, and outgrown clothing and household goods. You’ll want to apply your decluttering project to your entire home, including the insides of closets. (Yes, buyers look!) To declutter your living spaces and closets, a good rule of thumb is to cut down your ‘clutter’ by half. Put away tchotchkes, store out-of-season clothing, and keep your home tidy. To organize closets, head to your favorite home store for some attractive baskets. These are perfect for messy or small items (like toys!) so that when potential buyers are checking out your house’s closet space, they’ll see how easy it is to keep the closet and the entire home looking appealing and organized.

Let the House (Not Your Lifestyle) Speak 

When potential buyers walk into your home, the most important thing they can do is envision themselves living there. In order to make this happen, as you get closer to putting your home on the market, you’ll need to depersonalize it. Remove and store most of your family photos, put away daily personal items, take down the drawings and gold-starred homework from the fridge. This allows buyers to experience the space as neutral but inviting, and open to their own style. And make sure to do this before you have your house photographed for marketing! These days house-hunting begins online. Did you know 95% of buyers decide by photos alone if they are going to visit your home? You want buyers’ eyes to be focused on the space, not the stuff. 

Create a Sanctuary

One of the biggest selling points for a buyer is the master bedroom and bath. Think about the best hotel you ever stayed in and the feeling of relaxation and luxury you had while there. Even if your master bedroom isn’t five-star, you can create that effect with a few simple details, like tidiness, a white bed-in-a-bag sheet set, and a vase of fresh flowers for a soothing feeling and a clean, crisp look. In the master bath, keep all of your personal things out of sight, add fresh towels, maybe a decorative soap or two, and make sure it’s clean!

Polish Details and Features

To really make your home stand out in the market, choose a few details to enhance to help it feel like a finished, move-in ready home. A few examples are:

• Clean up all of your light fixtures and install brand new bulbs.
• Do an interior-exterior window-wash. 
• Give your entryway a quick makeover with a front door color-change, new welcome mat, and potted flowers.
• Spruce up your exterior with a landscaping party! Invite friends and family over to rake, sweep, prune, and make sure your outdoors is as appealing as the inside.

While selling a home and getting ready for a move can be overwhelming, these few tips will ease the way. I’m here to help you make the process as simple and fun as it can be! Let’s meet! I’ll happily walk through your home with you and share my insider expertise to get your home ready to sell at its maximum potential.

~Nicole

Edited by Karen Barbuscia, Main Line Parent Assistant Editor