Getting those buyers into your home

Spring is in full swing here in Connecticut. The trees are starting to leaf out, the daffodils and tulips have been up for a bit, some of the flowering trees are showing off for us. Things are looking great! Soon our gardens will be in full swing too.

What does this have to do with real estate? Plenty! If you are planning to sell your home, take a good look at the outside of your home. Curb appeal is the way to get the buyers inside your home. I can tell you for a fact that some buyers won’t even get out of the car if the outside isn’t appealing.

What can you do?

• Make sure you clean up the yard. Not just the leaves from last fall or the branches that might have fallen in the yard. Take a look at what you might be storing outside and get rid of it. You need to use a buyers eye, pretend it isn’t your house, take pictures and see how it looks. Too much “stuff” in the yard will turn buyers right off. The worst offence is old vehicles stored on the property.
• Paint your front door. A fresh coat of paint will do wonders for the home.
• Get some flowering plants and place them by the entrance, but keep them weed free!
• If you have a front porch, does it also need a fresh coat of paint? Is the furniture broken down? Make sure the porch is clean and inviting.
• Check your flower beds. Make sure they are weed free, perhaps a fresh coating of mulch will help.
• Keep the grass mowed, address any dead or brown zones in the yard.
• If you have a fence, make sure it in good shape.
• The driveway should be in good shape. If you have pot holes, fix them!
• Find a place to store those garbage cans. You don’t want potential clients getting out of their vehicles and seeing overflowing garbage cans before they see anything else!
• Check your garage doors. Are they worn out? Do they need a coat of paint? Is the wood in good shape around the doors?
• How is your deck? Make sure the wood is clean, the railings are in good shape and if it is painted, and the paint is peeling, give it a fresh coat.
• Check your gutters, clean them out and keep the leaders clear and in good working order.

If you want to get them out of the car and into the house you need to look at your yard and the outside of your home with a new eye! There are many websites with great ideas and photos to help you out. I found a few interesting ones, try Myhomeideas.com or a great article written by Elizabeth Weintraub about curb appeal on About.com.

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Looking to purchase or sell a home in the greater New Milford CT area? Please contact me , or visit my website to find out more about me.

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Looking to sell your home?

Looking to sell your home? In this real estate market you have to offer the buyer a reason to see your home, and then to like your home well enough to make that coveted offer. Just being on the market is not going to get the job done. Here is a checklist to see if you are ready to list your home.

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  Curb appeal. It all starts here. When a prospective buyer pulls up to your home, what are they going to see? Discarded items in the bushes, branches all over the yard, large areas of dead grass? I hope not. Set flowers by the entryway, clean up the yard, mow the lawn, paint the front door and garage doors if necessary. If you can't get them past the outside and in the front door, you can't sell them the house.


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  The Entrance. Make sure when a prospective buyer walks through the front door they see clean, they see fresh paint if needed, make sure there are no strange odors emanating from you house!
  
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  De-clutter. You must de-clutter and organize. What you have become accustomed to living with may really turn off a potential buyer. Keep items off the floors and counters. Keep your closets organized, if they can't see the closet for the junk accumulated in it, they will think you don't have enough storage space in the home for their own "stuff".
  
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  De-personalize. That wall that has the 50 portrait pictures of your family will do 2 things. It will highlight to the buyer that there will be 50 holes in the wall to repair, and it will distract them from really looking at the house. They will be too busy looking at the photos, and they will see YOUR family in the home, not theirs.
  
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  Clean. I can't stress this enough, the house MUST be kept clean. Clean floors, clean windows, clean tile and grout, clean towels in the bathrooms, clean all the way around.
  
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  Paint. Does your home need a fresh coat of paint? Probably. This could make all the difference in the world. That orange color that you just had to have in the dining room may just kill the deal.
  
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  Call a professional stager. It really is a monumental task to assess the situation when you are so close to it. If you find that you are overwhelmed, perhaps you need to contact a professional stager to help you reorganize, re think design, get it ready for sale.
  
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  Price it right. This is a BUYERS market. In order to sell your home needs to be priced to reflect a realistic selling price. Adding $50,000 for "negotiating room" will discourage prospective buyers from even looking at your property. Be realistic, reasonable, and listen to what your realtor is telling you!

If you are ready to make that move, contact a real estate professional. They will guide you through the process. If you owe more than it is currently worth, there are options available to you. Make sure you let your Realtor know in the first meeting that this is the case.

If you are in the greater New Milford area and would like to meet with a real estate professional, give me a call or drop me an email. I would be happy to discuss your options.