Where to Begin when Selling your Home
So you’re ready to sell? Maybe the house is too small, large or just not what you want. The problem is not with your home, but it just doesn’t fit your family anymore. Something attracted you to it initially, and that something could be just what another family is looking for. But you need to look at your home new as if you were buying it all over again.
Sprucing up the house will leave a great impression on potential buyers. You need to grab attention and create excitement about finding a house that looks and feels well-cared for. Buyers know they’ll encounter fewer problems if they buy a cared for home, which will make it more appealing and stand out from the rest of the market. Preparing your home correctly will save you time on the market!
Looks are not the only thing that will draw potential buyers, but a good first impression makes an impact on a number of levels. A buyer considers how a home feels and smells, how their friends and family will react and how they imagine it would be to live there.
Simple improvements through your house can grab the attention of potential buyers. We’ll help you show them why your house is right for them.
Preparing your Home for Sale
First impressions make all the difference on a buyer’s decision-making process!
Home Styling or Staging is not about decorating, but turning your home into a model to de-emphasize its flaws and appeal to the broadest range of prospective buyers. When your home is on the market it becomes a product. You need to highlight the positives and make people feel like they could live there. The best way is to “neutralize” the surroundings.
REALTOR® Magazine Online has provided these helpful styling tips in their article “Setting the Stage” comprised of the best kept secrets from real estate pros and stagers for things you can do at little to no expense to put a home in prime showing shape.
- Clear out closets and clutter—sellers can give away or pack up toys, linens, and small kitchen appliances to store offsite. Buyers are also forgiving of storage boxes neatly tucked away in a garage or basement.
- Focus most on the most visible areas—the foyer, kitchen, living room, master bedroom, and family room.
- De-personalize the home by removing photos, mementos, and dated items.
- Use plants in colorful pots or inexpensive wicker baskets to fill in empty spaces.
- Look to home catalogs for little details on beautifying the home. For instance, group books, pictures, and objects d’art appealingly on bookcases.
- Try angling one or two pieces of furniture slightly and move furniture 4 inches to 6 inches from the wall to create more interesting room spaces.
- Put away large collections— porcelains, plates, and so on.
- Remove valuables, prescription medicine, collectibles, and breakables.
- Trim trees, prune shrubs, and make sure the lawn is mowed and watered regularly.
- In summer, turn on the sprinklers for five minutes, 30 minutes before the open house. It makes the lawn and driveway sparkle.
- Refrain from cooking anything that leaves a distinctive odor, such as fish, garlic, or cabbage.
- Hire a professional service to clean the home, including the carpets and the windows.
- Set the dining room table with attractive linens, dishes, and stemware.
- Arrange fresh or silk flowers throughout the home.
- Light a fire in the fireplace in fall and winter.
- A mirror in a pretty frame can make a small room feel more open.
- Use as much natural light as possible. Add extra lamps in dark rooms or corners.
- Make functional repairs—fix dripping faucets, sticking doors, and broken fences.
- Bring in another pair of eyes—even if it’s not a professional stylist. The person may see problems you and have missed.
To talk about your real estate goals, call or email us today!
helen@helenoliveri.com
847.967.0022
Testimonials
Helen and her team are simply the best real estate team I have ever known. Helen is always personally available and made me feel like her closest friend and confidant and she fought for me unlike anyone I know. I am so confident in Helen and her team and I would recommend them without hesitation. I will always use Helen for any and all future real estate transactions. Thank you for selling my home in such a tough market. Helen you are the BEST!!
From the moment we met Helen we knew that buying our new condo was going to be a wonderful experience. Helen Oliveri and her team rendered the usually painful process of home buying as stress free as possible. Working with Helen wound up being what she and her entire team always says, “My pleasure!” At the end of the day we give Helen and her team a qualified and enthusiastic “rave” review.
5 stars across the board. If your looking for a realistate agent that would walk through fire to sell or find your next house The Helen Oliveri Team is the place for you! And they’ll let you use there moving truck for FREE!
Helen Oliveri and her team represent the highest professional level of expertise and customer service skills. Helen’s knowledge of the current market helped us sell our house in a very short period of time. She not only knew the specific requirements of the market, but also handled the transaction with attention to detail to fulfill the needs of her clients. We will recommend Helen and her team to anyone looking for a qualified agent to sell their home.
Helen is very personable and gives you the straight answers that are needed in order to sell your house. She has a plan, and follows through with what she says. Her team is made up of wonderful people who are always pleasant and gets the answers to any questions or concerns that I have had. My husband and I are so impressed with Helen and her way of doing business. She listens to her clients, is honest, and addresses all concerns. It has been a pleasure working with her and her team! The word…
The property that Helen listed and sold for us was our 6th home we have sold. Our experience was amazing. Helen is an outstanding broker, and knows her business better than any other realtor we have ever worked with. She is a top producer for a reason. I very highly recommend using Helen Olivieri as your broker/realtor when selling a home. She is outstanding at what she does.
Thank you so much for all your help with my new condo! It has been a wonderful pleasure working with both of you. My new home is beautiful! Thank you also for the gift basket! The items will certainly come in handy and they were all on my shopping list! In addition, the closing was painless! I will miss working with all of you. I certainly will recommend your team to friends and family every time the opportunity arises! You make a great team!
Wow! What a whirlwind 5 weeks! I just want to take a moment and thank you both for all the hard work you have put in over the past several weeks. Your professionalism is to be commended. Tim and I both feel, if we had listed with you last summer, our home would have been sold then. I also want to thank you for the special gift, it was very thoughtful and I look forward to enjoying it! This house was Tim’s favorite home, so he was most thankful. We truly appreciate your thoughtfulness. …
Dear HELEN, I just want to thank HELEN OLIVERI, your company is #1. I trust you, HELEN you are the BEST. Thank you again for everything.
I can’t say enough about Helen and her team! We had a full price offer on our home within 4 days of listing and her team spent hours with us searching to find a new home that we loved in short order. We had delays on our sale and very difficult (this may be the understatement of the century) sellers for our new home and she and her team were fabulous. From dealing with low appraisals, to difficult negotiations, to following up hourly (literally) with our buyers’ lender when they had delays, her …