Selling your home can be tough. Opening your doors to buyers can be overwhelming to say the least. Your home is more than just four walls to be critiqued and picked a part. It can be difficult to hear about what people like and don’t like or what they would change and so forth. So how do you know what buyers want? You don’t, each buyer is going to be different, but there are steps you can take to put your best foot forward. I have created a simple five step checklist to help get your home sold quickly and for top dollar.

1.       Update Kitchen

They always say kitchens sell homes, so this is an important area when it comes to getting top dollar. If a home has a dated kitchen, buyers will drop their offer to accommodate for the cost of remodeling the kitchen. If your kitchen falls in this category, there are a couple things you can do:

• Paint walls or cabinets to update

• New cabinet hardware

• Replace old style Formica countertops (if present)

• Replace old light fixtures

• Upgrade faucet if needed

• Replace an appliance or two if needed

You may have to spend a couple hundred dollars to do a couple updates to the kitchen, but in the long run it will be worth it. Updating the kitchen could help you secure that full price offer, especially in a competitive market.

2.       Clean, Declutter, Depersonalize

Cleaning, decluttering and depersonalizing are huge. This may take some time to do, but it will be totally worth it. Best part? It costs nothing but your time! Potential buyers will have a much better experience and impression of your home if it is clean, decluttered and depersonalized. What this doesn’t mean is stuffing everything into closets and cupboards or garages. If you have outgrown your home and need a space to put things so it is not cluttered, your best bet may be to get a storage unit for the time being. You want your potential buyers to be able to picture themselves in your home.

3.       Curb Appeal

You only get one chance to make a first impression, so make it good! Buyers will already start forming an opinion of your home before they even come in. Before showings start, take some time and freshen up the exterior of your home. This could mean things such as:

• Rake leaves

• Spruce up the flower beds

• Cut hedges

• Mow the lawn

• Freshen up chipping paint

• Cut dead tree branches

• Clean gutters

• Fresh mulch

• Clean away cobwebs

• Edge the sidewalks

Again, none of these things are crazy but they will go a long way. Just think of how much nicer a home looks with fresh mulch? It seems like such an insignificant thing but it goes a long way.

4.       Understand your Market

Understanding your market and home value is huge. If you are working with a realtor, they should help guide you and provide comparisons of other homes similar to yours. The last thing you want to do is overprice your home and have it sit on the market. If a home is overpriced and sits on the market, people lose interest in. And if it sits on the market for too long people start to wonder what is wrong with it and it almost gets a stigma attached to it. So take a look at what other homes in your area are selling for and have sold for and take an honest look at your home. Everyone believes their home is worth more, but you just need to be honest with yourself and ask how much more.

5.       Move in Ready

Lastly, if you want to sell your home quickly and for top dollar have it move in ready. If buyers see things that need fixed that will lower your offer price. So if you know your dishwasher isn’t working, or there are stains all over the carpet- get it fixed now. The less buyers have to do, the better your offer price will be.

Best way to sell your home for top dollar? Put your best foot forward. First impressions are huge and you want buyers leaving your home envisioning themselves in it. So do some cleaning, minor updates, and understand your market. If you prepare and do your best, the rest is out of your hands. Best of luck!