Go for a wow factor as market heats up
By taking a few steps now, you’ll help your home shine in the eyes of potential buyers
April showers bring May flowers and June bugs — but with the changing of the seasons, and rising temperatures, we typically see a hotter real estate market. During the spring and summer months, there tend to be more properties available than during the winter — and often, they’ll sell faster.
Even in a hot market, you still want your home to offer that wow factor when a potential buyer steps onto the lot. If you’re planning to sell, here are a few ways to make your home look competitive and appealing to a buyer.
A HOME INSPECTION PROVIDES TRANSPARENCY
The report you receive after a home inspection can be a great selling tool for any potential buyer coming through the home. Remember, an inspection provides a picture of what kind of shape the home is in at the time of inspection.
If you’ve recently upgraded your major systems (like your roof or your heating and cooling), the home inspection can let people know that these are still in good working order, and not likely to cause a new homeowner issues in the first few years of ownership.
MAKE YOUR HOME MORE EFFICIENT
One of the major costs you’ll incur throughout your time as a homeowner is the cost of heating and cooling. There are steps you can take around your home to mitigate the effects of heat loss in your home that don’t take a lot of time — or money.
Drafts account for up to 30 per cent of a home’s air inefficiencies, and you can solve a lot of those issues simply by replacing any worn or broken caulking and weatherstripping.
When you’ve taken steps to minimize heat loss, you’ll see that reflected on your monthly costs. If you have a serious buyer coming to take another look at the home, show them the improvements you made, and how it affected your energy consumption.
Believe me, that’s an attractive feature to a lot of buyers.
MAKE THE NECESSARY REPAIRS
So you had the home inspection performed, right? If it noted major areas in need of repair, take care of those before you list. The home inspection gives you an idea of what you need to fix that would otherwise deter a potential buyer. For those of you who live in a buyer’s market, that’s especially important, but even in a seller’s market, it may help you bring in a higher price, or sell more quickly.
DEEP CLEAN THE HOME
Cleaning is my least favourite chore, but first impressions matter. This starts as soon as a buyer pulls up to the curb, so pay special attention to your outdoor structures like the fence, porch and garden.
Moving inside the home, give everything a deep clean to make your surfaces shine brightly. If you find any instances of surface mould, remember that bleach isn’t an effective cleaning agent. You need something that will tackle the mould spores and keep them from returning.
MAKE THE HOME A BLANK SLATE
You’ve probably been in your house for years, and throughout that time you’ve really made it your own.
Depending on your sense of style, you may have a few funky coloured walls (especially in any bedrooms or playrooms for young kids). But what works for you won’t be attractive to every homeowner.
When a potential buyer walks through the home, they need to be able to visualize what they can do with the space when it’s their own. That can be really hard to do when the walls are electric blue — because that’s the first thing they’ll focus on. Repaint in neutral tones that will let them imagine what they can do with the space within the walls.
To add to that, you’ll also want to remove photos and other personal items. If you can rent a space, I’d also recommend storing any non-essential furniture items to make the space look as open and minimalistic as possible.
Whether you’re selling this year, or a few years down the road, it pays to make your home as attractive to as many buyers as possible.