Marketing Your Property
Much of the marketing of a home is done by your real estate agent, who will optimize your getting the best price in the shortest amount of time by advertising, holding open houses, taking photos and putting together brochures, and, as TorontoHomeRelocation.com does, even setting up a whole website dedicated to your home. However, there are still a few things you can do to help us make your home a hot property. We’ve put together some sound advice for sellers who are hoping to give their home that little extra push on the market.
Declutter Your Space
“Curb appeal”, the view of your home from the outside, is important. But far more important is the interior, which is where the next owners will spend most of their time! It often helps to freshen your décor before selling. In particular, it’s important to declutter – that is, make your home a beautiful blank slate onto which potential buyers can project their own hopes and dreams. Generally, the best way to go is neutral. Buy the latest home magazines and mimic what you see. Soft colours are better than bright ones. Rearrange the furniture if it’s blocking anything or if it doesn’t “flow” well. If you have too much furniture or extra boxes of personal effects, put them in an out-of-the-way storage closet or see if a friend will keep them for a few weeks. Pay attention to peripheral buildings such as garages and sheds, too: an uncluttered garage is worth the work!
TorontoHomeRelocation.com has on staff its own exclusive interior decorator who specializes in homes that are for sale. If you choose to work with us to sell your home, she will consult with you to help you show off your home in the best way possible, in order to increase its salability and selling price. She also does after-market service to help you set up and settle into your new home.
Clean, Repair and Paint
We all want to live in a clean house! Your potential buyers certainly will. So whether you’re a house-proud cleaning machine or you let things slide a bit more than you should, it’s vitally important to make sure your home is absolutely spotless before you show it. We generally suggest to our clients that they hire a professional cleaner to help. It’s not just the dust in the corners that needs to go, though. Other things you might want to consider are:
• Hire a carpet-cleaning company to steam clean your carpets and potentially your furniture. This is particularly important if you have pets!
• Scrub down the outdoor parts of your house, such as the deck, the garden furniture, the shed and the garage. You might even want to get your car washed.
“Curb appeal”, the view of your home from the outside, is important. But far more important is the interior, which is where the next owners will spend most of their time! It often helps to freshen your décor before selling. In particular, it’s important to declutter – that is, make your home a beautiful blank slate onto which potential buyers can project their own hopes and dreams. Generally, the best way to go is neutral. Buy the latest home magazines and mimic what you see. Soft colours are better than bright ones. Rearrange the furniture if it’s blocking anything or if it doesn’t “flow” well. If you have too much furniture or extra boxes of personal effects, put them in an out-of-the-way storage closet or see if a friend will keep them for a few weeks. Pay attention to peripheral buildings such as garages and sheds, too: an uncluttered garage is worth the work!
TorontoHomeRelocation.com has on staff its own exclusive interior decorator who specializes in homes that are for sale. If you choose to work with us to sell your home, she will consult with you to help you show off your home in the best way possible, in order to increase its salability and selling price. She also does after-market service to help you set up and settle into your new home.
Clean, Repair and Paint
We all want to live in a clean house! Your potential buyers certainly will. So whether you’re a house-proud cleaning machine or you let things slide a bit more than you should, it’s vitally important to make sure your home is absolutely spotless before you show it. We generally suggest to our clients that they hire a professional cleaner to help. It’s not just the dust in the corners that needs to go, though. Other things you might want to consider are:
• Hire a carpet-cleaning company to steam clean your carpets and potentially your furniture. This is particularly important if you have pets!
• Scrub down the outdoor parts of your house, such as the deck, the garden furniture, the shed and the garage. You might even want to get your car washed.
So, now everything’s clean, and you’re ready to show, right? Not quite. You’ve still got to take care of that banging in the furnace and those scuffs on the hardwood! When you’re selling your home, it’s good practice to make sure everything is in good working order, from the air conditioning to the fuse box. Sometimes this is a legal obligation; for instance, if your appliances are included in the sale of the home, you’ll have to make sure they’re pristine and work well. But it’s also important for the atmosphere of your home. A home with, say, a broken door handle and badly installed carpet can still be wonderful, but even small defects like this can subtract from the selling price of your home. We also hope you’ve kept your paint cans, because you’ll want to do some touch-ups.
Lights, Smells, Action
Sometimes, we’ll bring a client to a particular home, and as soon as they walk in, they’ll say, “This is the home for me, I just know it.” Usually, when we ask them why, they tell us that it’s because the home has an appealing atmosphere – that is, the décor, the scents, the lighting, the flow of the rooms, and that intangible something all come together to draw people in.There are several strategies you can use to enhance the atmosphere of your home, all of which have to do with creating a good sensory experience for potential buyers: appeal to their senses of smell, sight and hearing!
Smell has been scientifically proven to be the keenest human sense and the most important in enhancing memory. One of the easiest ways to create an appealing and memorable scent in your home is to bake something! Yup, you read right: the smell of baking has been shown to spur the sale of your home. There’s something about it that makes visitors feel right at, well, home. An alternative, if you’re not baking-inclined, is to boil a pot of cinnamon and cloves on the stove.
Use this rule of thumb to make your home smell as “homey” as possible when it’s being shown by your agent. Buy some lovely fresh roses or lilies and put them in a vase on your dining room table or on a table by the front door. Set out a bowl of fragrant fruit in the kitchen – you can even ask the agent to offer it to your guests.
Sound is also important. There are some aspects of the sound environment you won’t be able to control, such as whether you live near a busy street, but inside your home, it’s best to create a calm, mellow and happy atmosphere. Try putting on some smooth jazz in the living room, something unobtrusive but pleasant.
And, of course, there’s the question of lighting. It’s best to show your home during the day, when there’s an abundance of natural light, and make sure to fully open all blinds and curtains and let the sun stream in. It’s also a good idea to leave the lights on, especially in darker areas such as basements and rooms with fewer windows, to brighten up the atmosphere. Inspect all your bulbs and replace any that are burnt out.
Your goal is to help your visitors to imagine themselves making your home their home. So these small, home-like touches will help their imagination run wild.
Lights, Smells, Action
Sometimes, we’ll bring a client to a particular home, and as soon as they walk in, they’ll say, “This is the home for me, I just know it.” Usually, when we ask them why, they tell us that it’s because the home has an appealing atmosphere – that is, the décor, the scents, the lighting, the flow of the rooms, and that intangible something all come together to draw people in.There are several strategies you can use to enhance the atmosphere of your home, all of which have to do with creating a good sensory experience for potential buyers: appeal to their senses of smell, sight and hearing!
Smell has been scientifically proven to be the keenest human sense and the most important in enhancing memory. One of the easiest ways to create an appealing and memorable scent in your home is to bake something! Yup, you read right: the smell of baking has been shown to spur the sale of your home. There’s something about it that makes visitors feel right at, well, home. An alternative, if you’re not baking-inclined, is to boil a pot of cinnamon and cloves on the stove.
Use this rule of thumb to make your home smell as “homey” as possible when it’s being shown by your agent. Buy some lovely fresh roses or lilies and put them in a vase on your dining room table or on a table by the front door. Set out a bowl of fragrant fruit in the kitchen – you can even ask the agent to offer it to your guests.
Sound is also important. There are some aspects of the sound environment you won’t be able to control, such as whether you live near a busy street, but inside your home, it’s best to create a calm, mellow and happy atmosphere. Try putting on some smooth jazz in the living room, something unobtrusive but pleasant.
And, of course, there’s the question of lighting. It’s best to show your home during the day, when there’s an abundance of natural light, and make sure to fully open all blinds and curtains and let the sun stream in. It’s also a good idea to leave the lights on, especially in darker areas such as basements and rooms with fewer windows, to brighten up the atmosphere. Inspect all your bulbs and replace any that are burnt out.
Your goal is to help your visitors to imagine themselves making your home their home. So these small, home-like touches will help their imagination run wild.
