Q: What can I do to enhance the condition of my Home?
A: I will make specific suggestions, but generally it is a good idea to unclutter, clean, repair and neutralize.
- Unclutter
- Can you walk through your basement or garage? If not, make some hard choices and throw out some of those treasures. If that's too traumatic, rent a storage facility. Also consider removing some furniture. An uncluttered home looks roomier and presents more possibilities to a prospective buyer.
- Clean
- Clean everything: walls, floors, windows, drapes, carpets, bathtubs, drains, appliances... Clean up dirty dishes and dirty laundry. Consider whether there might be any objectionable odors - pets, smoke, cooking - and do what is necessary to reduce or eliminate them. Clean the gutters and mow the lawn.
- Repair
- Make those repairs that you've been putting off. Begin with those that cost the least, but make a significant visual improvement. Repair broken windows, leaking faucets and that hole where the knob on junior's bedroom door hit he wall. While you're patching the wall, consider whether it wouldn't really look a lot better if it were repainted. Once the easy things are taken care of, there are some more significant repairs that definitely should be made. Does the roof leak? Repair it (and the plaster below). Are the gutters falling from the roof? Repair them. Is it the middle of August and the air conditioner can't cope? Repair it.
- Neutralize
- Decorating magazines may not tout the look of neutral interiors, but most buyers like them. Neutral colors give the buyers a blank canvas for their own decorating ideas and don't clash with that favorite floral print couch. If your living room is painted fire engine red, olive drab, or some other nonneutral color, paint it over. If you need to repaint or recarpet anyway, do yourself a favor and opt for neutral colors.
