Nesting is important. It is much easier to feel at ease when you are in a space that reflects you and your tastes. But the same simple touches that make your home work for you, could actually be hurting your chances of selling.
While it might be hard, one of the most important things to do when you put your home for sale is to take yourself out of it. That way, when people who are buying a home come though, they have a blank canvas on which to project their own styles and tastes.
In this post, we’ll discuss the simple and painless steps to bring your home back to neutral.
- Say GoodBye to Vibrant Colors: Nothing turns off someone buying a home faster than a paint job they don’t like. That is why most experts recommend that you repaint any brightly colored or accent walls before putting your home up on the market. Neutral colors like beige and off-white are popular choices because they allow guests to imagine their furniture in the home without the unpleasant realization that their sofa would clash with the lime green walls.
- Clear Your Walls: When it comes time to sell your home, it is a good idea to remove all personal effects from the walls. Diplomas, posters, even family photos prevent home buyers from really imagining the house as their own.
- The “Lived In” Lie: Often times, you will hear a real estate agent tell you to make sure your home is cleaned but lived in. This, however, can be misleading. For most people, lived in means an allowable level of messiness that is inevitable for people leading a busy life. When you’re selling your home, however, lived in should be considered another part of staging your home. The best way to make a space seem “lived in” is to carefully cultivate a little clutter in strategic places to suggest that the house is livable. This can be a book left open in the arm of a sofa, a puzzle left half-done (though tidy) in the children’s play room, or yes, even a pie “carelessly” left out on the kitchen counter.
While it might be hard to have to erase your footprint on your house, think of it as an important step on the road to your new life in your perfect home. Afterall, 52% of people say that finding the right property is the hardest part when buying a home. A few simple steps can go a long way to help your realtors when selling.
