If you want to sell your Edmonton home, it’s crucial that you make the necessary preparations even before you meet your REALTOR^®.

Follow these steps and provided you make a good choice in selecting a REALTOR^®, (see this link for hints on REALTOR^® selection) you will be well on your way to success.

1.    Tidy up, pre-pack & throw stuff away

If you have lived in your home for any length of time, chances are that you have accumulated far too much stuff. Those souvenirs that we buy on vacation, Christmas and birthday gifts from years gone by, extra furniture now redundant, unused DVD or CD collections, books, tools, towels, clothes, sports equipment. Do you get the picture? This is the time to send it all to Goodwill, do a garage sale, sell it on Kijji or simply dump it.

In every room, start at the lowest horizontal surface and work your way up. Not only will you feel better as the clutter reduces, you will also get a sense that your home is now much bigger.

Oh and please take all those family pictures and reminder notes off the fridge. Buyers will not want to see those.

2.     Do a super clean & maintain it

Even an empty home accumulates dust and dirt. If your family is living in the home, there is a reasonable chance of dirt, dust and debris existing that you have learned to live with. However, a buyer’s senses will not be attuned to these aspects of your home and we strongly recommend that you give the house a very good clean. This would include: washing the walls, baseboards and steam cleaning the carpets. When a prospective buyer visits your home, the first 5 seconds are crucial. See this link for details about the importance of the first 5 seconds to buyers. If the house says ‘hello’ when the buyer walks in, you are off to a great start. It’s a little stressful, but it’s critical that you maintain this level of cleanliness during the ‘showing period’ of your home sales process.

3.      Make any necessary repairs

Are there things around the home that you have been putting off fixing? Perhaps a doorknob is loose or a few light bulbs need replacing. Perhaps there is a tear in the carpet etc. This is the time to get these things fixed. For a list of renovations and repairs and an estimate of the likely return on investment please see this report from Harrison Bowker.

4.       Consider repainting walls, trim & the front door

Walls and trim take a beating every day. Repainting where necessary will give your home a new feeling of freshness. Based on research, we also know that you will typically get every dollar back. For a list of other repairs and their likely return on investment please see this link.

5.       Consider staging your home

Many home sellers are reluctant to make the investment in staging services and it’s easy to understand why. A good quality staging program is going to cost you hard dollars. However, if you select a good stager, you will likely sell faster and for more money. See this link for more information about staging.

Want more information about our discount and flat fee home selling programs? Please feel free to call our broker-owner Stuart Neal at: 780-760-2014 or visit www.LowestRealtyFees.ca

Lowest Fees & Best Results,

Flat Fee Realty Services from $4500