You want to sell your house. Hmm, does not seem all that complicated, does it? Everything is prepared, and maybe you already have a few potential buyers. So what else is left to do? Well, to really make a good impression, there are a few things you can do before you sell. Now, while we cannot go into absolutely everything you can do, we can at least give you a few guidelines and general ideas you can explore, a baseline from which you can then work.
Declutter without Depersonalising
This is just as applicable when you are just moving, but you want to get rid of all the items that have slowly accumulated over months or years. You can put it in storage, sell it, or just give it away. If you are sure it is not going to be of any use to anyone anymore, you can even throw it away. Maybe remove really old, bulky furniture that makes the space feel smaller and replace it with smaller, more fitting furniture. But what is also important is that you don’t want to completely depersonalize your house either; don’t make it look like some generic hotel. No, you want to leave some of your personality in there; it will give the buyers some ideas on how they want to style the place, and you have to remember that a lot of people are often buying into a lifestyle as much as the property.
Fresh Paint
This is, well, like everything else on this list, optional, but more up to you perhaps, but a fresh lick of paint can do wonders if needed. If you decide on a more neutral, light color, it will make the house seem lighter, more spacious, and upbeat and allow the viewers to more easily use their imaginations to imagine how they would decorate and adapt the rooms to their own needs. A dark color is much more imposing, elegant, and stately, but perhaps not the best option to go for, as you want the visitors to buy the house and not be almost cowed into silence and reverence.
Clean and Fix
Well, that should be obvious from the get-go, but it bears repeating nonetheless. If anything minor can be fixed, get it fixed. Holes in the walls, crayon marks, tears in the rugs, cracked floor tiles, and so on. Most buyers want to move in without having weeks worth of work waiting for them. Clean everything until the whole house practically blinds any visitors because it sparkles so much. Get rid of any odors, polish the tiles and silverware and all that stuff, maybe wax the wooden floors—everything you can manage. The reasoning for this is rather obvious, as no visitor can imagine living in the house when every corner seems to harbor new, ugly surprises. If you have a garden, do some work there, trim the bushes, clean the furniture outside of any dirt or leaves, and maybe have the grass cut a little if it's too long.
The Kitchen
The kitchen is incredibly important, the make or break factor for many, the most valuable room in the whole house, and can be the defining factor in helping the unsure buyer make a decision. If the whole house is spotless and perfect but the kitchen looks like something out of Kitchen Nightmares and you almost expect Gordon Ramsey to burst through the door screaming obscenities, then you have a real problem. You need to rectify this situation as soon as possible, maybe by refacing the cabinets or perhaps upgrading the countertops, although it is admittedly quite expensive. For aesthetics, leaving out a bowl of fruit is a fantastic little touch.
Right Smells
The smell is vital, and in your house, doubly so. One of our most potent senses, we react almost without thinking to bad or good smells, and you want to make sure the house you want to sell smells perfect—not too much, which would make anyone in the vicinity nauseous, but just enough. Think of it like the Goldilocks story, and you already have it pretty much figured out.
If you want to sell your house and make a perfect impression, it is the details you want to think about. Most are rather self-explanatory, but it is easier to have a "checklist," so to speak, that you can follow and maybe pick up a little inspiration from.