When you put your Piedmont home on the market, potential buyers are looking for many attractive features that interest them. However, one of the most attractive things to them is space. The more space that you can show them, the larger, and more appealing your home can become. Space and room allows them options--the option to fit in their new furniture, redesign the dining room, or perhaps make a bedroom into an badly needed office. Â
Your goal, then, should be to present them with an open, uncluttered, visually appealing home, that allows them to envision their things in that space, and encourage them to want to live there. One of my roles as your Piedmont and Oakland real estate agent, is to assist you in carrying out this plan.Â
After living in a home for a long time, homeowners create the home to meet their personal and family needs. As the years go on, and possessions build up, they may not see that many rooms have collected more furniture and accessories than are really necessary, but the chore of going through these rooms to remove the overload may daunting. It is just easier to put things in closets or begin stack things in the basement or garage. Keeping in mind that the FIRST impression of your home is the one that buyers are going to go away with, here are two tips:
1. Return Your Rooms To Their Original Purpose--Have your kitchen be a kitchen, and your bedroom be a bedroom. Neither room should become a child's playroom, or gym, or pet den during your home tours. For the short time while selling your home, try to have each room make sense and purpose. By doing this, you allow the buyer to envision themselves in their kitchen, or their bedroom, and they will not be distracted by things they have to step over and around. Most importantly, spend time developing an open, spacious floor plan that is easy to navigate. Remove any furniture or other items that detract from this concept.Â
2. Put Away Your Collections and Personal Memorabilia--Collections of antiques, art, family photographs and awards, while nice for you, are all distracting, and take away from the concentration that buyers should be devoting to viewing your rooms. You only have a limited time for them tour each room, so make the experience a good one. Pay special attention to crowded refrigerator doors, bulletin boards, crammed shelving, things stacked on buffets, side tables and cupboards. Put yourself in the place of others viewing your home for the first time, and tour, and retour your home with this in mind, making changes as necessary.
Some of this is quite simple to do, and some of it takes preparation and a bit of time. In the long run, the financial reward should repay you.
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Posted by Bruce Wagg on
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