Notice your window coverings. There’s no doubt that window coverings are expensive but they’re also very noticeable, so you need to make sure yours aren’t turning buyer’s off. If they’re cotton curtains make sure they’re clean, but not faded and not beginning to disintegrate from facing that hot sun all day, every day. It also [...]

Mind your entertainment center manners. The entertainment center is a big attention hog and it often behaves rudely in front of potential buyers viewing your home. What do I mean by rudely? I mean that it insists on getting all the attention in the room. It’s often oversized and cluttered and tends to loom over [...]

Psst! Don’t tell anybody but you don’t really have to de-personalize everything. Not surprisingly this tip comes with exceptions. I tell sellers that it’s perfectly acceptable to leave out a few personal photos while their home is on the market. Look no further than those brand new, professionally staged, model homes for examples. Nearly all [...]

Offer a bigger commission. I touched upon this subject in Home Selling Tip #21 but I’ll expand upon it here. Depending on how desperate you are to sell your home, you may want to offer any Buyer’s Agents a bigger commission than you had first planned. To make it clear, there is no set commission [...]

Don’t apologize. Don’t apologize to potential buyers for your home’s shortcomings. For starters, it will just make the flaws obvious. For “enders,” fix it instead of apologizing. For the sake of argument however, let’s pretend that you’ve fixed everything there is to fix but you’re aware that the home backs to a busy street, or [...]

Host a “Broker Open.” Often times, when a real estate agent lists a house for sale they host what is called a “Broker Open” which is an Open House for real estate agents (brokers). If you’re selling your home on your own (FSBO) you could host one of these yourself. Or even if you’re using [...]

Take a step back. What I mean by taking a step back is that when selling your home it is extremely helpful if you can disengage yourself from the emotions attached to your home. This is very difficult because you have a lot of personal stories attached to your home and how can you just [...]

Move the cars! If you have a garage full of junk (see Home Selling Tip #18) or your vehicle is simply too big to fit in your garage for whatever reason, don’t leave them sitting in the driveway hogging the front of the house. Nothing is more awkward than buyers wondering whether or not they [...]

CLEAN OUT YOUR GARAGE!! I know, I’m shouting. I think it’s important though. Even though the garage is just a place that you normally use to either store your vehicles, or as in my neighborhood your junk, it needs to be clean when you have your home on the market. Everyone will open the door [...]