• Are your shrubs, trees, flower gardens, and walkways tidy? • Is there trash or just a general mess in your yard? • Does everything (front light, garage door, porch rails, etc.) function properly, and look its best? • Could outdoor features, like patio furniture or the garage door, be updated with a quick coat of paint? Chances are, you’ll have some improvements to do. Take heart: Just think of how many people are going to beg to view the inside of your home when they see how beautiful it is from your curb! This might seem like an overwhelming list, but it truly takes hard work to get a home ready to sell.
STAGING YOUR HOME
In addition to creating curb appeal to attract buyers and give a great first impression, you’ll want to stage your home. Curb appeal will attract buyers into wanting to see the inside of your home, too. That’s why it’s so important to stage it. You can hire someone to do much of the hard work for you, but some things you can handle yourself: Staging begins with decluttering, tidying, cleaning, and then deep cleaning. For decluttering, use this rule: go through your home, and get rid of 50 percent of your belongings. The goals are to get rid of junk you don’t need, create space and potential, and de- personalize the home so potential buyers can envision themselves living there. When the clutter is gone, move on to cleaning. Be meticulous. Tidy each room from top to bottom. Wash and scrub anything that needs to be. You’ll then want to move on to painting, updating or upgrading different parts of your home, and making other small
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