Spring Market Checklist

The Denninger Report  - by Gini Denninger

People are making plans for the year and many are thinking about moving. Hopefully, those with homes to sell are carefully considering what they have to do to get their home sold. Here’s a handy check list for both buyers and sellers. Use it as a guide to prepare a home for sale and as a buyer’s checklist of what to look for!

Stop being emotional about your home. Try to see it as a buyer would see it. As with any product offered for sale, make sure it is ready to be marketed! If the product is not ready, no matter how it is promoted, it won’t sell or will have to be sold at a deep discount.

Get rid of items that have not been used in the last year. Twice a year I review things in my home, from kitchen to closets. If I have not used it in one year it goes, NO MATTER WHAT! Think about it, short of family heirlooms, quality jewelry, silver, china or crystal, if it has not been used in a year it is highly unlikely you will ever use it! Do yourself a favor and donate these items to a charity that can resell it.

Rent a POD or storage unit. This is the place you will put all non-essential items after you de-clutter and depersonalize your home.

De-clutter. Knick knacks, family photos, books spilling from bookshelves, among other things should be boxed up in preparation for your move. The full boxes placed out of sight. Non-essential kitchen appliances should be housed in cupboards. Your kitchen counters should be cleaned and look empty, this gives the appearance of lots of counter space. Small items used daily should be put out of sight, like hairbrushes, make-up on a vanity in the bath, or tools on counters or shelves not in the tool/workshop.

Remove personal items. Family photographs, while meaningful to you, are just a distraction to buyers. You want them looking at the house, not your personal history through photos. Make your home a blank palette that a buyer can imagine their own things in. They need to envision living there in order to pull the trigger to buy it!

Empty & organize closets and cupboards. Remove all non-essential items. Organize what is left in an orderly manner. This makes the space look more expansive. It also makes you appear to be a person who takes care of their belongings… a buyer will translate this to mean you also take care of your house!



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