Buying A Home
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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Preparing to sell....tips?
DH and I are getting the house ready to sell either late fall or right after the holidays. I'm sprucing up paint and fixing minor issues. I've been looking online for tips of how to show a house. I'm trying to declutter and depersonalize right now but I have a couple of questions. We have quite a few pictures hanging on the wall of our DS's. Should I take them down? Then I think it looks bare and unneat with hangers in the wall. Opinions?
Also I saw mention on a website of having a home maintenance binder for showings. This would include all the maintenance that has been done (receipts and such), manuals for appliances and pictures of the home. What are opinions on this?
Thanks!
Re: Preparing to sell....tips?
Take all pictures down. You're getting ready to move anyways, why not start the packing early?
Before we listed - we took down every picture, and basically packed up everything and started storing it in the garage to prepare for the move. I think it helped us sell the house a lot faster, and I think it makes it easier for someone else to get an idea of what their things could look like in there. Also again makes moving easier if a lot of things are already packed up. Good luck!
ETA: When I mean we packed up everything - I mean everything that we didn't need. Summer clothes (we sold in winter), kitchen gadgets (to clear room on counter tops), random knick knacks, etc.
*** My Bio *** For Sale ***
We removed all personal references. First, because we wanted buyers to envision themselves in our home and second we didn't want strangers seeing pics of our kids.
That said, you can go to Target.com and find some inexpensive art work to pop up there to fill the void.
We did an info packet to go with our sales brochure. It had all the upgrades and extra projects we had done to add value to the home. For example, it listed that all our windows had 2" plantation blinds and that our deck was 20' x 16'. Also, the packet had annual costs for all utilities. We made a 12 month list of each one and then did a 12 month average. Buyers like to know how much gas or electricity is cost them. In clude, trash, water, sewer, gas, and electricity.
We also posted a few mini "signs" in the home bullet pointing some important features that might get over looked. For example, in our master bath, we highlighted upgraded lighting fixtures and italian glass tile. In our main level, we highlight 9' ceilings, Pottery Barn light fixtures and 42" kitchen cabinets with pull out drawers in the lowers.
When buyers walk through they can easily get glossed over eyes by all the stuff to look at. Bullet points on your home's features help them remember and pay attention.
Family photos of all kinds need to be out of sight.
Remove the picture hangers from the wall. Patch and paint as needed.
Closets and cabinets no more than 1/2 full.
Rubbermaid containers are for items packed are helpful - stack them to the ceiling in the garage or basement.
The home maintenance binder sounds like a great idea. I?m sure the future homeowners will appreciate it. It?d be best to take most of the pictures down to make the space look as open and decluttered as possible. Here?s a checklist for preparing to sell your home that includes other decluttering ideas. Hope it helps!
http://www.realestate.com/advice/i-want-to-sell-my-home-how-do-i-get-started-10852
We got a storage unit to store all our extra clutter. Most things that we don't need on a regular basis are packed up.
My real estate agent says that the few months before and after a presidental election tend to be a very slow time for sales.