Selling Your Home for Top Dollar

Selling your home and profiting from your home sale are vastly different things.  The one involves contacting a realtor and listing your home for sale. Selling your home for a profit, however, among other things, involves planning, staging, and at least a little renovation.  

Staging

For the best impression, often homeowners will move out all their furniture. Doing so allows people to imagine how their furniture might look.  Additionally, it helps prevent your furniture from negatively impacting the overall appearance of the house.  If you must live in the house while it is on the market, rent a storage unit and empty the house of all but the essentials. Consider having the house staged with new contemporary furniture giving the house and upgrade and fresh look.

Deep Cleaning

If your able, a professional deep cleaning of the house from top to bottom including windows, walls and doors, most of which are areas we often overlook in our weekly cleaning, is essential. This should include cleaning the entire house and wet vacuuming carpets. Walls should receive a new layer of paint that matches the most conservative modern trend. You might prefer your blue meditation room or your kids' green romper room, but this type of style will only appeal to a few people. Appealing to more people creates more interest and more competing offers. These competing offers are the only way to draw top dollar.

Other items of interest include the brick in the fireplace. It should be either stained to bring out the natural luster, or it should be painted to match the most elegant style that matches the house. For instance, whitewashing the brick and painting the hearth black will brighten the living room and create a more modern look.

Simply put, the goal behind spring cleaning is to freshen your home and give it a classic look that appeals to 80 percent of people.  

Kitchen Upgrade

At the very least, home owners should upgrade their refrigerator and kitchen sink.  If you happen to find good sales, throw in an inexpensive dishwasher. When you purchase the new appliances, select stainless steel and black. Doing so will provide your kitchen a new modern appearance while allowing you to remain in budget. Avoid white as it's often perceived as being outdated.

When it comes to a non-selling home versus a selling home, such upgrades might also include buying a table small enough for a corner yet larger enough for one or two people to enjoy coffee.  An eat-in kitchen table can take up wasted space and make the kitchen seem intimate.

Consider replacing your cabinet doors and knobs.  New cabinet doors and knobs will make the entire kitchen seem as if you put in new cabinets, but cost a fraction of the price. In terms of home value, a bright, apparently new kitchen is the best strategy at actually increasing home value.

Outside the Home

In terms of the yard, ensure your grass is well trimmed at all times, all weeds are pulled and hedges and trees are trimmed and well maintained.  If you have a deck, trim around the posts and steps. Mowing and weeding increases curb appeal and makes the property appear maintained. Consider a couple of fresh, new pots or planters with bright, in-season flowers. Doing minor landscaping of this sort costs little money and is probably the most subtle yet important detail to attend if you want to impress potential buyers.

Finishing Touches

In terms of increasing home value, the accents will not actually help, but they will create a warm feel that increases the number of offers you may receive. Again, when it comes to a non-selling home versus a selling home, accents such as a new front door or coat of paint can make the home feel warm and inviting.

Additionally, replacing the dull towel racks for sparkling chrome can brighten the bathroom. Finally, be sure to add plants inside the homes to soften the touch. Doing so will create warmth that a purely empty space will lack.