Tips for Preparing Your St. Augustine Home for Sale

Selling a home is very much like a job interview with perspective Buyers.  First impressions can really make the difference.  So, the same as you would prepare for a job interview with a fresh hair cut, pressed clothes, etc., translates to selling your home with preparation.

Tip Number One.  Get a Home Inspection.  Many times, getting a home inspection performed by a professional can signal to Buyers that your home is ready to go and they have more comfort that there is not something hidden or a major problem that is going to prevent them from making the purchase.  Paving the way is the key.  Also, many times a home inspector will reveal simple problems with your home that can be easily cured.  For example, an overhanging tree limb that must be trimmed that you felt was beautiful.  If the inspector says it needs to be trimmed for insurance purposes, get it done.

How to get your home ready to make a First Impression?

Take care of the Exterior.  

What you can do is just simple beautifying.  The goal is to make your exterior look pretty and fresh to impress your buyer.  Just to inform you that the exterior becomes the first impression to overlook a house.  There are two sensory organs of a buyer you must impress.  Those are eyes and nose.  By bringing the garden homelike condition to your house exterior, making it looked pretty and freshening it up.  The steps you can do are:

– Get the grass, trees, flowers, and plants tidy and fresh by mowing and watering it
– Clean up the curb and entering path and put the potted flower in the sides.
– Freshen up the smells by put scented potpourri.
– Clean up all of windows and entering doors.
– Get rid of equipment that has been laying around.
– Paint the walls if necessary.

Make the Interior Inviting and Lower the Amount of Clutter. 

After buyer got impression from your house exterior, do some simple work to make your home inviting and less cluttered.  Your aim is to make a buyer feel homelike buy entering your house. These are the steps:

– Clean up the tile floors; scrub it if there are some bad spots.
– Get rid of spider net from your ceilings.
– Wash the carpets with a fragrant soap.
– Get your furniture placed tidily and gets rid of unnecessary one.
– Sweep the closets
– Clean the garage and attic
– Get the windows opened and clean, it will bring freshness to your house inside
– If you have pets, bath them.
– Put some fresh fragrance in air conditioner.

Some Repairing and replacement is necessary to do, if there are some broken furniture, equipment, or appliances.  Consider the following:

– broken or missing door
– cabinet handles
– ceilings
– ventilation filters
– broken tiles in bathroom and kitchen
– faucet
– wallpaper
– some furniture

Get your real estate broker or agent’s opinion of your work!

Ask your broker or real estate agent to stop by and take a look at your work.  Tell them what you have done so they will be able to better communicate the work to Buyers and know more about your home.  Better yet, you will have taken an opportunity to get your home in front of your agent more than other listings and your agent will have the fresh cleanliness of your home on their mind as a home they can easily sell.  If your realtor believes your house is an easy sell, they are more likely to push you sale over others that are more challenging.