Thinking of Selling?  Make your House a Perfect "10" First!

Here's a few tips on getting your house ready to sell...

1) Start with curb appeal:

For your house or townhouse...

Tidy up the garden and yard; cut the grass, rake up leaves, and plant colourful bedding plants; clean and/or paint all the window trim, walls, stairs and doors, especially the front door.  All the doors and windows should open and close properly.  Check the roof, chimney, windows, sidewalks and exterior walls  for cracks and hire a contractor for any necessary repairs. Pick up the garden hose and store it out of sight.

For your condo apartment...

Check the exterior entrances are swept and clean.  Sweep and wash the deck space, then add some pots of colourful plants to the balcony or patio.  Wash all the screens and windows.

2) Next...Inside the house:  Repair, Clean and de-clutter!

Have the interior sparkling clean, smelling good and well-lit.  Pack up personal items, valuables, nick-knacks, or dust collectors.  For open houses and showings, turn on all the lights and open all the blinds and drapes to allow maximum natural light shining into your home.  De-personalize your space by removing all your personal photos, as well as magnets, etc. from your fridge! 

Of course you're busy...so have a cleaning service clean all appliances, sinks, tubs, toilets, and fixtures.  It is worth the time saved.

3) Spaciousness is important.

Remove and store anything crowding or blocking the interior pathways so your home looks "spacious."  This may mean moving a table, removing a bureau, storing chairs or huge cabinets.  It also means removing half your clothes, ie in summer pack up all your winter items, and store them until after your move.  

Tidy, clean and organize drawers, shelves, linens, towels, shoes & clothes.  Clean off anything sitting on top of your kitchen counter, cabinets, stove top, fridge, night tables or bureaus. Buy new white hangers for the closets. Hang clothes by type and with colours grouped together.  Remove everything from your closet floors.  If you haven't used it in the last year...donate, re-cycle or use your friend's crawl space, or family's garage or rent a storage locker.  Put all your stuff like tools or sporting equipment somewhere else (try your car trunk!) Be ruthless!   

4)  Don't forget storage areas!

Yes, this means also organizing the garage, storage shed, garden shed, locker, and basement areas.  Dispose of outdated or broken "junk."  Get rid of old garden pots, buckets, and broken tools.  Sweep, clean, and remove any garage oil stains.

5)  Keeping the chandelier?

Remember anything "attached" (eg fawcets piped in, or fixtures electrically wired in, or drapes and drapery rods screwed in) to the house, "stays" with the house.  To clarify...mirrors glued to the bathroom wall "stay," but decorative, framed art-work-type-mirrors for instance, and only hanging from a hook...are ok to remove and "go" to your new home with you. 

So if you want to take your new bedroom drapes, or antique chandelier ... then first:  make sure to tell your realtor, so they can be noted as "exclusions" in the selling contract.  And, secondly, if possible make every effort to remove and/or replace these items prior to showing the home to any prospective buyers!

6)  Here's the Most Important Tip...

Allow each prospective buyer viewing your home to visualize themselves in your home, as their new home, and not yours!  This means you must "go out" and not be home for the showings.  And please secure your pets or take them out with you! 

Reference:  For more information or a free copy of the "About Your House" fact sheet, Getting Your House Ready to Sell, visit the CMHC website at WWW.cmhc.ca.