You know that when you sell your home, you have to make it as appealing to buyers as possible. But that’s not always an easy task when there are other homes in the neighborhood with similar – or even the same – features. Your job then becomes making your home stand out from all the others much like it. You will, of course, need a good agent to help you accomplish that, but there’s much you can do on your own. So let’s take a look at 5 things you can do to make your house stand out in Snohomish County.
1. De-Clutter and Clean (And Keep It That Way)
Even though decluttering and cleaning should be standard elements of prepping for a sale, many people, for whatever reason, neglect to do it or do it well. So something as simple as decluttering and cleaning can help you make your house stand out in Snohomish County.
Here’s why you should declutter. “Excessive clutter makes a home look dirty and small, neither of which are selling points. If you have a significant amount of things with nowhere to put them, consider getting a storage unit for your stuff until the sale is complete and you have moved into your new home. And the garage, basement and attic are not appropriate places to store clutter. Buyers want space in all areas of the home.”
Cleaning and keeping your house clean are just as important as decluttering, especially now in the COVID-19 era. A dirty cluttered home is simply not appealing to buyers, but a tidy, spotless one is. So if you want to make your Snohomish County house stand out, you may need to hire professional cleaners to do a deep clean. And, then, be sure to keep your home clean. Many sellers fail to do this, so you’ll be ahead of the game.
2. Fix the Small Things
Another way to make your house stand out in Snohomish County is to fix/repair/upgrade all the little things. They may not seem like much to you – in fact, you may not even notice them anymore – but buyers will definitely notice them.
Here’s what the pros recommend: “The broken doorknob in the bathroom, the cracked tile in the kitchen, the dead spots in the lawn. You may have been meaning to get to all of them, but you just haven’t. Well, now is the time. The more polish you can put on your home through little repairs, the more appealing it will be. One of the best things you can do is walk around each room in your home looking at all the imperfections. Try to be a homebuyer for a moment and think through their eyes. The more things you can scratch off the list the better.”
Besides making your house stand out, these minor repairs and upgrades will yield the best return on investment at sale time. Consult your local agent for tips on fixes that will give you the most bang for your buck. Find out more by calling 425-239-2723.
3. Improve Curb Appeal
If you really want to make your house stand out in Snohomish County, you have to make sure it looks good to buyers when they first pull up. You have only one critical chance to create a great first impression, and curb appeal does that.
Buyers see that outside of your home first, so you have to make sure the lawn and house exterior are in tip-top shape. Improving curb also yields a good return on time and money invested because it can increase your home’s value. When it comes to real estate, people do judge a book by the cover.
4. Depersonalize and Neutralize
Another great way to make your Snohomish County home stand out is by making it look less like your home. Your goal should be to create a blank canvas effect so that buyers can envision your house as their home. You want them to be able to visualize the house filled with their belongings and to imagine themselves living there.
The first step in this area, then, is to depersonalize. Remove all objects and adornments that stamp the home with your personality – family photos, weird colors, doll collections, and so on.
“You don’t want your house to be null,” industry pros advise, “but it should be blank enough for your visitors to imagine imbuing with their personality. In that spirit, colors and furniture should be neutral, along the lines of brownish, beige, grey, with no extravagant elements that steal the show and get stuck in people’s minds.”
5. Listen to Your Agent
Finally, and perhaps most important, you need to listen to your agent if you want to make your house stand out in Snohomish County in order to beat out the competition. A qualified local agent with a good sales track record will know exactly what it takes to make your home stand out – in your area with its unique requirements. Find out today how our agents can help you accomplish this goal. Just give us a call at 425-239-2723 or send us a message!