Dallas, Texas Homes and Real Estate For Sale

Tips and Tricks

Prepare Your Home to Sell

Landscaping / Curb Appeal

Is your landscaping average in the neighborhood? If not, then purchasing a few bushes and ground covers will certainly help. Don't suffer by planting trees. Mature trees are expensive, and you won't have time to enjoy them. Also, smaller trees do not really add much to the "curb appeal" of your home.

If you have a nice spot for flowers, get mature colorful flowers and plant them. They add a splash of pizzazz by showing warm appeal and color, creating an immediate favorable first impression. Smaller seeded plants or bulbs are not recommended at this point either.

Your lawn should be manicured, well watered, and free of those ugly brown spots. Any problems with the lawn should probably be taken care of them before working on the inside of your home. This is because certain areas may not take the sod, and you want to give it a chance to grow so that re-sod areas are not immediately apparent. Always rake up loose leaves and grass cuttings.

Uncluttering the clutter

This is probably the most difficult thing for most people to do because they are emotionally attached to just about every possession in their house. After living in the same home for years, clutter accumulates in ways the homeowner may not even realize. However, buyers do see this in your home, even if you do not realize it!

Clutter collects on shelves, counter tops, drawers, closets, garages, attics, and basements. You want to give the appearance of creating as much open space as possible, so even extra little things needs to be removed if possible.

Let friends or family members help point out areas of clutter, as long as you can accept their constructive criticism! If possible let your agent or representative help you and try to put yourself in the buyers shoes when doing a "clutter assessment".

Clutter in the kitchen

Start removing clutter from the kitchen, because it is an easy place to get started.

First, remove everything off the counters. Every single item. Even the coffee maker. Put the coffee maker in a cabinet and take it out when you need it. Find a storage place where you can put everything in cabinets and drawers for retrieval later. Notice that you do not have cabinet space to put everything! Clean them out. Put dishes, pots and pans that rarely get used in a box and don't forget to put the box in storage.

Homebuyers are known to open all your cabinets and drawers, especially in the kitchen. They need to know their stuff is going to able to fit. Kitchen cabinets, pantries, and drawers that look crammed, sends a message to the buyer that plentiful storage space is lacking and leaves mental impression in their minds. The most effective method is to have as much empty space as possible!

In particular, if you have a junk drawer, get rid of the junk! If you have a rarely used ice tea maker, put it in away. Do an inventory on every cabinet and drawer. Create a feeling of open space all around.

If you have foodstuffs shoved into the shelves or pantry, start using them; especially canned goods. The last thing you want to do during the moving process is lug around extra canned goods that weigh hundreds of pounds!

Under the sink is very important as well. Take all efforts to ensure the area beneath the sink is as empty as possible, removing all unnecessary cleaning articles. You should scrub these areas thoroughly, and determine if there are any signs of water leaks or damage. You don't want to cause a homebuyer to hesitate in buying your home due to a small overlooked item.