As Spring rolls in, cleaning and preparing your homes appearance should be top priority before showing it. The three most important factors in selling a house are location, condition, and price. Unless you have access to a reasonable house mover, there is little you can do about the location of your house. If it is priced correctly, the most crucial thing you can then accomplish is to make the preparation of your house for sale better than any of your competition.

Even if you have been extremely conscientious in the maintenance of your home during the time that you have owned it, putting it on the market requires taking the next step, which is to check every aspect of your house, repairing, freshening, or changing whatever necessary.
The first step is preparing the exterior of your house--a buyer's first introduction to it--is to take a clear-headed look at the house from the street. Stand at the curb and look at your house as a buyer might. What stands out and catches your eye? Is it the beautiful landscaping and the new roof? Or does something else strike you? The faded exterior paint? The potholes in the driveway? The 3 missing shutters? Remember, this is how your home will "introduce" itself to a potential buyer. If the appeal isn't there, they will likely move on to the next available house, no matter how beautiful the interior of your house may look.

If you need major improvements or renovations to your house, do them before you put it on the market. The average buyer simply does not have the "vision" necessary to see the job done (if you are planning to do the improvements prior to closing). If you are attempting to sell the house as a "fixer-upper" be aware that even though many buyers say that this is what they want, when confronted with the prospect of actually buying one, they often run for the hills!

Remove any junk or clutter from the yard. This includes tree limbs and leaves, but especially goes for junk cars or parts, lawn tractors, etc. If the exterior of the house is dirty or moldy, power wash it. If it is in need of paint, get competitive bids if you can't do it yourself. If possible, reseed any bare areas of the lawn. Trim all shrubbery and plantings. Trim trees if necessary, especially dead limbs.

If the driveway is stone and looking lean, add a coat of gravel. If it is asphalt, consider resealing it. Check gutters and downspouts to make sure they are clear and functioning properly. Make sure that all exterior lights are operational. If the season is right, plant colorful flowers where appropriate.

Add mulch to planting beds and around trees this is an inexpensive but very effective way of freshening the look of the yard. Make sure the exterior (and the interior) of windows is clean and operational.

If you get the buyer into the house, it is important to make their visit as pleasant as possible--and that means having the whole house ready. You want them to be as comfortable as possible, and to linger in the home. A "turn off" will send them scurrying quickly to the next house on their list! Make certain it is well lit, clean and has nothing lying around either inside or outside. Paint the front door if it even remotely needs it. If you normally use a back or side entrance to your house, pay particular attention to the front entry. You rarely see it but this is where the buyers will enter!

If possible, keep furniture at a bare minimum so that traffic flow is easier and the room does not appear smaller than it actually is. If bookshelves, curio cabinets, and the like are overflowing with books and knick-knacks, remove some of them. If this is the room you live in the most, make it look inviting but not overly lived in. Keep furniture at a minimum but make the room look like a comfortable place to spend time. Clean the exterior of all appliances. Clean the oven interior. Clean or replace the stove hood filter. This is often overlooked, usually dirty and greasy, and looked at by a lot of buyers. Clean cabinet faces. Make them shine! Remove all clutter and unnecessary items from countertops and clean all countertops and backsplashes thoroughly.

ZeroBrokerFees has many affiliated contractors, landscapers, cleaning and disposal companies listed in our business directory who have helped thousands of sellers prepare their home for sale!

Happy House Selling!

Ed Williams & The ZBF Team!