home sale Archives - CENTURY 21 MarketLink Realty

5 Places You Forgot Potential Buyers Will Check

October 14, 2015 By Casey Danton

An open house is a crucial component of the home sale process. Start with these tips for staging an open house, but don’t stop there. Potential buyers are likely to inspect all areas of the house. Yes, even your “junk drawer” and closets. Here’s a list of five often forgotten places that potential homeowners may check.

The sides of your house

When you spruce up your front yard and backyard, pay attention the sides of your home as well. Potential buyers will likely look at the exterior of your house from all angles. One unkempt side may turn them off from the rest of the home. Make sure the paint and landscaping is in good condition from all angles.

Inside your closets

Don’t stuff everything in your closets and hope no one will open them. Even if the potential buyers aren’t fashionistas, they may still care about closet space. Show it off by organizing it. You wouldn’t want a potential buyer to open a closet just to find a hodgepodge of the belongings you stashed there.

Under your bed

Removing the bulk of storage from your closets is a great way to make closet space appear bigger, but that doesn’t mean your stuff should be shoved under the bed. Not only is it an eyesore, but the potential homebuyer might also see it as a sign that there is not enough storage space. Your best bet is to invest in temporary external storage space so that your open house has all the space it needs.

Inside the shower

Chances are no one wants a small, cramped bathroom. Create storage solutions that may make your space appear bigger and brighter to buyers. For example, stash toiletries and cleaning supplies in a separate closet, a dresser, or under the sink.

Your drawers and cabinets

Potential buyers will probably open drawers and cabinets. Spend time getting inspired by these home organizers. Think about all of the details like your spice rack, whether your dishes match, and finally taming your “junk drawer.” In need of more inspiration? Our Pins may help!

Go the extra mile, and don’t get caught off guard. You wouldn’t want to scream a slow motion “nooooo” as a potential buyer innocently reaches to open a closet.

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These Tips May Speed Up Your Home Sale

August 3, 2015 By Casey Danton

Who doesn’t want a faster home sale? Make a good impression on buyers to increase your chances of a speedy sale. Not sure how to do that? We’ve got tips for every step of the home sale process.

Optimize Your Listing: A picture is worth a thousand words. Take professional quality images of your home. There is an abundance of online listings — do what you can to make yours stand out (for all the right reasons). Work with a CENTURY 21® Affiliated Sales Associate to write your listing and create a seller marketing plan. Recommended Reading: Picture Perfect: How to Take Great Photos of Your Home, Creating a Marketing Plan

Upgrade Your Curb Appeal: The outside of your home is the first area a potential buyer will see. Spruce up your yard and exterior. Add a fresh coat of paint, new landscaping, a new mailbox, and more! Recommended Reading: 7 Essential Curb Appeal Tips for Sellers

Clear Clutter: Getting rid of clutter may make your home appear larger and more appealing to buyers. Donate usable items, and get rid of items that are unusable. Once you’ve paired down, get organized so everything looks neat and tidy. Recommended Reading: 7 Easy Ways to Organize Your Home

Make Your Home Feel Larger: Little tricks like using light paint colors, incorporating mirrors, adding extra lighting, and sticking to a monochromatic color scheme may make your room appear larger. Make some home decor and home improvement changes before your open house. Recommended Reading: 10 Secrets for Making Your Bedroom Feel Larger

Accomplish Home Improvement Projects: Pick up a hammer and nails, and complete some home upgrades. Before you get started, make sure you’re not improving something too much. It’s not an oxymoron, we promise. Recommended Reading: Cents and Sensibility: 5 Mistakes That Could Decrease Your Home’s Value, Top 5 Best Home Improvements for Sellers in 2015

Avoid Common Seller Slip-Ups: Learn from someone else’s mistakes. CENTURY 21® Affiliated Sales Associate, Ann Weaver, shared some of the most common mistakes she’s seen sellers make. Hint: Home condition, marketing, and open house times all made the list. Recommended Reading: The 5 Biggest Seller Mistakes

Ace Your Open Houses: An open house is a key component of the home sale process. You want your open houses to run as smoothly as possible. Avoid these common errors. Recommended Reading: Open House Oops: Don’t Make These Mistakes, Do This, Not That: Tips for Staging Your Home

Set the Price: Setting a price can be tricky. You don’t want to price too high or too low. It’s helpful to research, listen, and compromise. Recommended Reading: Setting the Price, The Sale

What are you waiting for? Start today. You may find that you have a smoother (and speedier) home sale process as a result.

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How to Sell Your Home in the Spring

May 11, 2015 By Casey Danton

Spring is an excellent time to sell. When you sell in the warmer seasons, you are given more leeway in how you can present your home.

Here are some tips to help enhance your home and increase the likelihood of selling in the springtime!

Open Windows: The bitter cold isn’t ideal for open windows. Having the windows open during a showing allows a nice breeze and a lot of natural light to flow into your home, showing off its best features. There is something so satisfying about seeing the sunlight reflect onto the floor, and the curtains blowing in the breeze. It gives a comforting and homey feeling, appealing to buyers’ interests.

Curb Appeal: One of the many benefits of selling in the spring is being able to show off your landscaping. It’s hard to see how beautiful a yard is when it’s covered with mountains of snow, so now that your lawn is visible, it’s important to get it into good shape. Make sure the outside of your home looks great.

Spring Cleaning: Your home should be tidy for the showing. Clear out cluttered closets and pantries, deep clean the carpet, polish the floors, and show off all the potential your home has!

Pre-Inspection: Winter may have prevented you from doing a full pre-inspection on your home, but the warmer weather welcomes it. Take a sunny afternoon to go outside your home and look at everything from the roof to the concrete. Make sure you take care of little repairs around the home and pay special attention to any foundation damage left over from winter.

Bright Colors: Gone are days of heavy throw blankets and comforters. Now it’s time to lighten up your home with bright colors and lightweight materials. Bring out the linens, colorful solids, and bright throw pillows to accent your home. All of these light layers and colors complement the natural light and breeze that comes from the open windows.

Spring is a great time to put your home on the market. Buyers will love attending showings and open houses on a warm, sunny, Saturday afternoon. Follow these best practices for selling in the springtime.

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5 Gifts To Leave For Your Old Home’s New Owners

April 1, 2015 By CENTURY 21

Selling a home is an emotional event. You are leaving behind a house filled with memories and venturing off to someplace new. The people buying your home are excited to create their own memories in a home that you loved for so many years. Welcome them with a thoughtful gift that will leave a lasting impression.

Here are some ideas for gifts to leave for your home’s new owners.

Personalized Key Rings: Mark this milestone in the new owners’ lives by giving them a special key ring. Engrave it with their initials, the date of the move, or even a special message from you. Not only is this thoughtful, but it’s a practical gift as well.

Mailing labels and stationery: Personalized gifts go a long way. Create mailing labels with the owners’ names and new addresses; if you want to go the extra mile, create personalized stationery for them as well. Leave these paper gifts on the kitchen counter with a nice note to surprise the owners.

Monogrammed Doormat: Doormats are something that may not be at the top of a new homeowner “to-buy” list. Give them a monogrammed one or one that fits well with the decor of the home. They will surely appreciate this gesture.

Practical Items: If you’re skeptical about buying personalized gifts, stick to practical home items. Things like smoke and carbon monoxide alarms, unpacking supplies, or even a utensil organizer are useful to new homeowners. They’ll be so busy when they first move in, and these are essentials that they should have immediately.

A Neighborhood Guide: Write a detailed list of your favorite places in the neighborhood. Mention your favorite restaurants, boutiques, gyms and more. They’ll love having your recommendations on hand when they start to explore!

All of these gestures are incredibly kind and memorable. It’s a nice way to welcome new people into the home and neighborhood you have loved for so long.

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Open House Oops: Don’t Make These Mistakes

October 8, 2014 By CENTURY 21

An open house is a crucial component of the home selling process. In fact, 45% of buyers have said that they purchased a home after going to the open house. When hosting an open house, it’s important to avoid errors that can make the presentation of the home less effective. Don’t make these common mistakes.

1. Don’t stay: According to Bankrate.com , it’s important, as the home seller, that you don’t hang around the open house. This includes children and pets as well, which can cause a disruption. Buyers are less likely to say how they feel if the seller is present, and it may make them uncomfortable. Let your licensed real estate agent handle the open house, they know best.

2. Remove all personal items: Fox News suggests before the open house begins, remove pictures and other personal items so that potential buyers can envision themselves living in your home.

3. Cleanliness: Make sure your home is at its cleanest and neatest during your open house, says Fox Business. Buyers are likely to want to see areas that you may forget to make presentable like cabinets, your “junk drawer” and the closet where you stashed, well, everything.

4. Don’t play music: Some home sellers choose to play music in the background to make buyers more comfortable and create a livelier atmosphere, but this can actually work against you, according to USA Today. Music is very subjective and people may not like the music you play. Music could also be distracting.

5. Manage temperature and smells: Take the Goldilocks approach, and try to find a temperature that is just right. Your home should not be too cold or too warm – you want your guests to be comfortable. Parade.com advises to not overpower your home with air fresheners or cleaning products. It makes sense to stick to smells that are simple and clean.

Open houses are an essential part of the home selling process. Make your potential buyers feel right at home.

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