Getting Your Home Ready To sell? Here are the Top 10 Tips

Every item on this list is recoverable at closing, and most of them are recoverable several times over. The sellers who skip them are not saving money. They are handing it to the buyer.

After more than 6,000 transactions and $2.6 billion in career sales, I can tell you exactly where sellers leave money on the table and it is never in the pricing conversation. It is in the weeks before the sign goes in the yard, when we are busy preparing the house for sale. The homeowner decides not to stage, paint, replace carpeting etc. saying it is "not worth it" and the next buyer will figure it out. They pay in pricing adjustments into the hundreds of thousands in luxury home sales.

Power wash the front of the house and the entry. Paint the front door and any tired surfaces. Add fresh plantings, put down a new door mat, and fix anything unsightly on the approach, whether that is a loose railing, a cracked step, or a dated light.

Buyers form an opinion in the time it takes to walk from the car to the door. If the entrance is off putting, they carry that feeling through every room, and it is the same feeling they leave with. A bad first impression becomes a bad last impression. This is the highest leverage hour of work you will do.

Inside the door, set a clean mat and a bench or chair. It signals that the home is cared for, it protects your newly refinished floors, and it gives buyers a moment to pause and settle in before they tour. Small hospitality details tell a buyer how the house has been lived in.

Fresh paint delivers the highest return of any repair you can make before selling. I hear the same line from sellers all the time: "I will leave the paint colors for the next buyer to decide." That decision forfeits thousands of dollars. Buyers do not price in the cost of painting. They price in the hassle, and they price it high. A freshly painted home reads as move in ready, and move in ready is what the strongest buyers pay for.

This is the second highest return on your investment, and it is not close. Scratched, dulled, or pet damaged hardwood is one of the first things a buyer notices and one of the first things they mention when they lower their offer. Refinished floors under fresh paint change the entire feel of a home, and the cost is recovered many times over at closing.

You do not need a full remodel. You need the kitchen to look current. New stainless steel appliances, freshened countertops, and new cabinet hardware accomplish that at a fraction of the cost of a gut renovation. The kitchen is where buyers imagine their life in the home, and it is where dated finishes cost you the most.

Replace dated faucets, shower heads, and towel bars. Then pay a professional to redo the grout and pressure wash the tile. Grout is the detail buyers notice without knowing they are noticing it. Clean, bright grout makes a bathroom feel new; discolored grout makes a buyer wonder what else has been neglected.

Walk the house and be honest. Brass ceiling fans, builder grade flush mounts, and fixtures from a previous decade date a home instantly and are among the least expensive things to fix. Consistent, current lighting throughout the home ties every room together and photographs beautifully, which matters from the very first online showing.

New bedding, crisp pillows, and clean towels in the baths. It is a small investment that elevates every photograph and every showing. Bedrooms should feel like a well run hotel, not like someone's private space the buyer is intruding on.

Remove every bit of clutter and junk. Sweep it, wipe it down, and make sure there is clear, easy access to the electrical panel, the furnace, and the water heater.

Most sellers treat the basement as an afterthought. It is one of the most important rooms in the home, because the inspector will spend more than an hour there. A clean, organized basement with visible mechanicals tells the inspector and the buyer that this house has been maintained. A cluttered one invites scrutiny of everything else.

Not a tidy up. A professional, top to bottom cleaning after all the other work is complete: windows, baseboards, inside cabinets, light fixtures, vents. A professionally cleaned home smells and feels different the moment the door opens, and it is the final step that makes all the others land.

In today's real estate market, the best conditioned home on the block is the easiest one to sell, and it commands the highest price. Buyers at every price point have grown accustomed to move in ready, and they are paying a premium for it. The fixer upper down the street is no longer the bargain it once was; it is the home that sits.

If you are thinking about selling, call us before you start any of this work. We walk every home with our sellers and prioritize this list for your specific property and price point, so that every dollar you spend comes back to you.

Powers Realty Group, Inc. Milwaukee's Luxury Leader | Wisconsin's #1 Boutique Broker™ 4214 N Oakland Avenue, Shorewood, WI 53211 | 414-963-0000

Start with the front entrance. Power wash the exterior, paint the front door, add plantings and a new mat, and repair anything unsightly on the approach. It is the buyer's first and last impression of your home.

Fresh interior paint has the highest return of any pre-sale repair, followed by refinishing hardwood floors. Both are recovered many times over at closing.

No. Leaving paint for the next buyer forfeits thousands of dollars. Buyers price in the hassle of painting at a much higher figure than the actual cost.

Yes. Inspectors spend more than an hour in the basement. It should be spotless with clear access to the electrical panel, furnace, and water heater.

Usually not. New stainless steel appliances, refreshed countertops, and new hardware make a kitchen read as current at a fraction of the cost of a remodel.