How to prepare your home for sale

Ask any Royal Pacific REALTOR®. A spick and span home, with new paint and some colourful greenery typically has a better chance of selling faster than a home that is run-down with an untidy lawn and garden.

Which small improvements do Royal Pacific REALTORS® recommend you make so that your homes shows at its best?

Outside: You want them to stop and look, not to drive by.

• Cut your grass, edge the beds and weed out any debris.
• Add colourful plants in pots. Bright pink, purple and white impatiens are great in the shade, while petunias are great in full sun.
• Get rid of any clutter such as old rusted lawn chairs or tables with peeling paint.
• Clean, clean and clean some more. Wash windows, doors, the mailbox, stairs, handrails, and stucco or panelling.
• Repair or replace sagging fences and gates.
• Replace missing shingles and make sure gutters aren't sagging.

Inside: Sparkling clean and uncluttered are optimum.

• Clean, clean and clean. Every room in the house needs to be thoroughly scoured. Get rid of clutter;
• Clean or replace faded, warn carpets.
• Repaint faded walls or kitchen cabinets.
• Repair leaky faucets, chipped countertops and gouges in walls.
• Remove items such as antique bathroom wall cabinets or light fixtures that you plan on taking with you. Buy attractive, suitable replacements.

The Open House

• Always make arrangements for you and your pets not to be home during an open house.  
• Take any expensive items with you such as cameras, computers, jewellery and money and lock them in your trunk or lock them in your home safe or safe place.
• Place fresh flowers in vases on counter tops, make fresh coffee and even bake some cookies (there are many types in the supermarket freezer section.)

Make sure you ask your Royal Pacific REALTOR® for tips and ideas to prepare your home to get maximum benefit from an open house.

Source: Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver

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