
You are eager to be looking for your new dream home: you have set a budget and been pre approved, gone through some discovery questions with a realtor, signed a contract, and have now scheduled time to go through some properties.
You arrive at the first property:
- What is the first thing you notice when you pull up to the front of the house or pull in to the driveway?
- What is the last thing you notice? (As a seller, what is the last thing you WANT them to notice?)
- Are there any areas on the exterior of the home that require repair? How is the paint? Gutters? Trim?
- What is the condition of the driveway?
- What is the condition of the sidewalks or paths?
- Are there any areas of landscaping that are in disarray?
- Does the house look well maintained? Siding, windows, roof?
- Is it clean?
- Do you feel at home? Can you see yourself in the house and neighborhood?
As a seller, you have the ability to ramp up your staging curb appeal for minimal cost. This will require some elbow grease and a little creativity. I suggest you start by actually going to the curb and looking at your house. Take a pen and paper and write down notes about what you see and answer the list of questions above. Do you need to rent a pressure washer to clean the brick? Repaint the mailbox? Put the garbage cans in the garage?wash the windows?
Remember, that buyer will notice everything. It is important to take care of any and all staging issues that you possibly can BEFORE listing the house on the market. As a HSE Stager, I am trained to identify these issues that will detract buyers. Also, your real estate agent should be doing a walk through with you to identify issues that will come up on the inspection. (Be sure this is part of your contract with them.) It is best to address these issues as soon as possible. Some may take longer than you think to fix or may require a professional to complete.
Show them why your house is the one <3