How to Keep the Personality of Your Home While Selling

While Every Window Has a View, Every Home Has a Personality! Deciding to sell a home is a big decision, one that most people do not make over night. Once the decision is made we will want to show our home at its best. There are varying thoughts on how to do so. This article will show the advantages of maintaining the personal feeling about your home, while you are in the process of showing it. As an interior decorator I have given the advice in this article to many clients. It has worked very well.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Home, and a desire to show it at its best!

1. You will want your home to be clean and free of odors. Place a bottle of glass cleaner and paper towels under the sink in each bathroom. You will want to spray down the counters, mirrors, and stools at least once a day. This keeps the bathroom looking fresh and clean for those drop-in lookers. Use your vacuum every morning to pick up any pet hair or foreign objects. Invest in air fresheners for each room; choose the same scent for the entire house. Using a freshener which plugs into an outlet seems to work well. Use a scent which is not overpowering, but simple and clean. Each night use a basket to go from room to room, picking up and leaving objects which are out of place.
2. Begin boxing up items which are not needed. The items to be packed away should leave the home feeling open, and uncluttered. These items may include some toys, seasonal clothing, kitchen accessories, books, etc.
3. You have heard from some real estate agents that a home should have the personal items removed, such as family photos, and accessories. I instruct my clients to leave them. Anyone looking for a home is capable of seeing past your possessions and imagining their own. However a home is something that is created by making it personal. By creating a warm, family oriented and personal space your perspective buyers are able to visualize their family in a similar setting.
4. When showing your home it is important to show it at its best. As home owners we go out of our way to decorate our walls with paint, faux finishes and wall paper, adding that extra pizzazz that our space needs. For example, my living room and kitchen both have an accent wall in navy blue. It is part of our over all décor and shows our home at its best. Many agents would recommend that we paint over these walls and present a fresh clean, white finish. I disagree, by doing so I would be taking away a lot of the personality that our home has. Our home would not show at its best. Again, those interested in purchasing a home will see the home with a certain appeal that a blank slate can not offer, and most will plan to paint upon moving in. Showing a home with the existing décor intact allows you to show it at its best, and gives the new home owner a chance to see what may be done with that space, opening up creative juices for everyone.