Deciding to sell your home can be a very emotional experience. You’ve spent time there, perhaps watching your kids and even grandchildren grow up. You’ve had family and friends over for barbeques around the pool in your South Florida backyard. It’s been home, and now you’re going to sell it to strangers.
Therefore, the first thing you need to do in this is to disassociate yourself from the house. Make yourself realize that this house will no longer be yours. Go through the rooms and say goodbye. Think instead about where you’re going to be moving to. Next pack up everything personal that’s sitting around on tables and shelves. It will not only help you to let go, but it will also help the buyers picture their stuff in your soon to be vacated space. So you’ll need to pack up all your knickknacks and start to declutter. If you don’t need it, get rid of it.
Also, take everything off the kitchen counters. If it’s something you are still be using, like a coffeepot for instance, put it in an easy to get to box in a closet when you’re not actually using it. Too rearrange your entire closets and cabinets. Buyers will be opening them to check them out, so you may as well pack away everything that’s not essential. Stack your dishes neatly and arrange all your cups with the handles the same way.
Go to your closets and organize all your shoes neatly and hang all your clothes with the hangers facing the same way. Remove any unnecessary furniture from any of the rooms. You may need to rent a storage unit to keep furniture in, but the less furniture, the bigger the rooms look. Empty bookcases and then box and store books. Remove any extra sections of your dining room or kitchen tables to make the rooms look bigger. You want furniture in your rooms, but you want the rooms as big as you can make them look. The things which you plan on taking with you, remove them now. If the buyer doesn’t see it, they can’t want it included in the price.
Repair any cracks or holes in the walls. Repaint with neutral colors where it’s necessary. Fix drippy facets, replace burned out light bulbs and wash and clean everything. You want the house to sparkle and shine. When everything’s finished, walk through each room and look at the house through buyer’s eyes. How did you do?
Next go outside. Mow the grass, clean out the flower beds and trim the hedges. Paint any trim that’s faded. Repair any loose or damaged roof shingles and clean out the gutters. Clean and repair anything that needs it to spiffy up the outside of your house.
Now you’re ready for the first buyer to walk through your door. And a new adventure will being. Think of the happiness and excitement of being on your way to a new home yourself.