Are you considering selling your home this spring? As we head into the year’s busiest real estate season, ensuring that your home is in its best condition will help attract maximum interest. Here are some tried and true steps to follow:

Begin the purge. Put your house on a diet. Give consideration to the appeal of a tidy and organized house and begin removing or donating both the things that clutter your home and the things you don’t want to move with you. Choose a drawer, shelf or storage bin, and begin streamlining, room-by-room, a little bit at a time. Seasonal changes can create great opportunities for sorting unworn clothes. You’ll be happy to have less on moving day and your closets will look bigger to potential buyers. A garage sale is a great way to purge before your home’s first showing.

Fix what’s broken or damaged. Determine what house maintenance is in order. To pass a home inspection, certain repairs may be unavoidable. Taking care of these issues now will ease your burden later and improve your sales opportunities. Simple repairs are also well worth the effort. Painting those chipped shutters and replacing the broken banister rail will provide a return in creating the right impression for a timely sale.

Think like a buyer. This can be the hardest step since we love our homes and generally assume others will too. Accept that potential buyers have different tastes and consider hiring a house staging professional or ‘fluffer’ who can objectively determine what needs to change. Consider basic staging techniques such as removing clutter; putting away personal items like photos and trophies; cleaning and sanitizing inside and out, from top to bottom; freshening and neutralizing your colour scheme; making your entrance way appealing; eliminating pet and food odours; enhancing the illusion of space, beautifying your backyard. See the 2006 Royal LePage House Staging Report for more information.

Contact your Realtor. I am your partner in selling what is likely your largest asset. I can assist you in getting your home prepared for sale and in helping you understand the current buying and selling real estate markets. As an experienced, full time Realtor, I know the market and can put the strength of an established, leading real estate brand to work for you. It’s my goal to help you sell your home in the shortest amount of time possible and at the best possible price.

Alternatively, if you have a friend, relative or colleague, who is considering buying or selling, please tell them about me. Your referrals are genuinely appreciated. I will treat your friends and family with the care they deserve so you can be proud you referred me.

Timothy