Make your home for sale look its very best

Little things mean a lot in matters of the heart. They can mean even more when you’re trying to sell your house.

The way you present your property to prospective buyers can make all the difference between success and failure. Intangibles often help a sale — the way the light reflects off a gleaming oak table in a bay window can make buyers realize what they wanted all along was a home with a bay window in the kitchen.

Without investing in expensive and time-consuming redecorating projects, it’s still possible to show your home to its very best advantage. There are a lot of easy, inexpensive ways to put a shine on it and enhance its overall desirability.

Here are some suggestions:

Curb Appeal

This is the impression buyers get when they first drive up to your house, and that first look is all important. If prospective buyers don’t find your house appealing, they won’t be interested in seeing what’s on the inside.

How can you turn that initial impression into love at first sight? Trimmed shrubbery and mowed lawns are as important as windows that are so clean they positively sparkle. If your house could use a paint job and you don’t have the time or money to do it right away, sometimes repainting the trim will update the entire facade. Make sure the walkway to the front door is as attractive as possible. Seasonal plantings can do a lot to zip up the look. Even if you’re not an enthusiastic gardener, it’s not difficult to add a row of annuals on each side of the walkway.

Neatness Counts

Gardening equipment and tools should be put away and hoses neatly coiled. Insist that the lawn equipment be out of sight or off the property.

Remember, buyers are going to be looking closely at your front door, so it should be clean, freshly painted, and with hinges oiled so it swings smoothly. Brass or metal doorknobs should be polished until they are bright.

Inside, everything should be spotless. If you can afford it, this is the time to hire someone to do what used to be called “spring cleaning” — a heavy-duty overhaul of all the nooks and crannies. Play the role of a prospective buyer yourself. Go through every room using “less is more” as your guideline. You want to make every room look as spacious as possible and, with that end in mind, remove as much furniture as you can — that extra rocker, foot stool, or table.

Check each room in the house for hazards. Make sure all extension cords are out of sight and remove any potentially slippery throw rugs.

Looks Count

Also, now’s a good time to pack away a lot of the things that seem to accumulate, and to sort though magazines and get rid of those you don’t want to keep. If your desk is overflowing with papers, etc., put them out of sight in a drawer.

Take a good look at your kitchen counters, too, and weed out everything you absolutely don’t have to use every day. Everything else should go into the cupboard.

Mini-blinds are not only inexpensive, they’re a terrific solution to all kinds of window decorating problems. If your curtains are a little worn or faded, replace them with mini-blinds; they not only give a room a fresh, modern look, but if you buy them in a color that matches the walls, the room will seem much larger.

Buyers react most strongly to kitchens, closets and bathrooms, so it pays to concentrate your efforts in these areas. If you feel your kitchen cabinets aren’t as up to date as you would like them to be, sometimes just switching knobs and door handles provides a dramatic improvement.

New shower curtains for every bathroom in the house are a must before you start to show it. Tired, streaky shower curtains are a real turnoff. Get a new set of coordinating towels for each bath as well, if you can afford it. Keep this new set for show only and tuck them away between showings.

Perfect Timing

Most of the time, your agent will show your home by appointment. But there will be times when a REALTOR® will call and say a client wants to come over right away for a quick look. That is your cue to say, calmly, that the prospective buyer can see the house in an hour or two, giving you enough time for a quick cleanup.

If you have pets, deal with the fact that some buyers may be allergic to them. As much as some of us love our pets, a lot of people don’t.

As you and your REALTOR® go through the house, you may want to point out certain details, i.e., such as a cherry wood mantle. It is usually wise for the owner not to be present when the agent shows your home. If you are present, remember: it’s OK to be seen but not heard. If you wait for the buyer to come up with his or her own ideas, that’s a good sign the buyer is beginning to feel possessive and is seriously considering making an offer.

However, it may take two or three — or even a dozen or more — potential buyers to go through you home but don’t be discouraged. Sooner or later, someone will walk in the door and decide they love it just as much as you did when you first saw it.