After reading information online about buyers markets and sellers markets, you might feel a little leery about putting your home on the market. You will likely find yourself worrying about how much to ask for your house, how to advertise it and even what you need to do to get your home ready for potential buyers. Selling your house on your own requires even more work and may leave you accepting a smaller offer than you would like. Before calling on a real estate expert like Kuba Jewgieniew for help, find out what you should do before listing your home.

Pay for an Inspection

Though you might think that an inspection is the responsibility of a buyer, paying for an inspection yourself gives you an idea of what you need to fix around your house to make it more appealing to buyers. A thorough inspection can alert you as to missing shingles, a leaky basement or even mold found underneath your cabinets. The more problems you take care of today, the fewer problems buyers will find later, which may result in better offers.

Deal with Curb Appeal

Four Things You Absolutely Must Do Before Selling Your Home

When potential buyers come in for an open house or a private tour, the very first thing they see is the way your house looks for the outside. Poor curb appeal may make those buyers unhappy and unwilling to look at the inside and other parts of the home. Improving your curb appeal is something you can do in a single day or over the course of the next weekend. Give your porch and front door a new coat of paint, replace any broken pavers or railings around your patio and give the outdoor a good cleaning to remove any weeds or trash.

Get an Idea About the Current Market

Experts like the professionals working for Realty ONE Group look at current market conditions when determining the best price for your home. Finding out what local homes sold for isn’t always easy, which is why many get some help from real estate agents. Those agents can look for homes just like yours that sold in the recent past to decide what to list your home for when it goes on the market. Knowing current market conditions, improving your curb appeal and paying for an inspection can help your home sell for a higher price.

Stage the Interior

Staging your home is so important to selling it. You need to create the atmosphere that will be the hook to catching your buyer! Remember each room of your home needs to feel good to the person walking through. Here are a few DIY tips to help give your home the cozy feeling it needs to attract a buyer.

The family room needs to have a comfortable look to it, not too formal but inviting. If your couch is looking tired try adding accent pillows that are the right shape and color to give it a brand new look. You will want to compliment the design of your couch by choosing the right shaped pillow. If your couches back pillows are boxed rectangle style, then I would recommend adding lumbar shaped pillows to make it feel like they came with the couch. If your back pillows are feather down and have a fuller look to them then go with a large fluffy pillow.

Before and after home staging a white couch with decorative lumbar pillows

If your bedroom has a bed with an old bedspread on it, then think about buying a new duvet in a solid shade of white. This will brighten the whole room and by adding color with throw pillows will give the pop you need. You can change the pillows to fit the season.

Transitional coastal style bedroom with dark walnut wood floors, wood post bed, light blue walls and minimal decor.

Bathroom faucets can get old and crusty looking. By replacing old faucets with shiny new ones can give a face-lift to any bathroom. Hardware is another fixture you can replace that has a big impact to the look of the room, but not a big impact on the wallet.

bathroom vanity accessories color light plumbing fixtures decorative hardware design diy inspiration

Last, but not least is aroma. Make your house smell homey! Candles are a good way to bring great smells into your home and there are a variety of fragrances to choose from. Each room can have its own scent. The kitchen can have a cinnamon smell while the bedroom could be lavender.

Living room wood slab table with DIY Halloween decor project. Glass vase wrapped in orange tulle ribbon holding candy corn next to tiny fresh pumpkins and squash with American Home by Yankee Candle fragrances

Share This Story, Choose Your Platform!

About the Author: Patricia Davis Brown

Patricia, like her blog, is not a one-dimensional designer, which is evident in her accolades of 17 national design awards. Over a 38-year career in the industry, she has carved a niche in several areas of design. Licensed in interior design and certified in kitchen and bath design, she offers a full menu of design services ranging from whole house interior design, kitchen and bath design, lighting design, full remodels, commercial design and universal (ADA) design. Patricia is a sought-after speaker in the industry and has been published in many publications as seen on her interior design firm’s website, https://www.patriciadavisbrowndesigns.com/. She writes for such publications as QuinStreetinc, Relaxed Remodeler, and eHow.com talent offering design tips.