Are You Planning to Sell Your Home?

A clean and tidy kitchen will help to sell your home. Moreover, your real estate agent will love you.

Here are 12 ways to prepare your home for sale related to your kitchen.

Please note that a staged kitchen in a house for sale is not a practical kitchen. Realize that staging your home is the first step in letting go. This can be difficult.

It is time to make the shift from thinking about your home as a place you live to seeing it as a property that is about to be sold. Staging, when done well, can help make your home more appealing to buyers and help it sell more quickly. It can also help you to get the best price.

Set up your home to make its best first impression. You do not have to live through endless open houses before making a sale. Stage your kitchen to help sell your home quickly.

Staging Tip #1

Do not think you have to do a major kitchen overhaul. This can cost a great deal of money. You probably will not fully recoup this investment when you sell.

Instead of a full kitchen remodeling, consider small changes you can make to update your kitchen.

• Paint rather than replace cabinets.
• Swap out hardware.
• Roll out a rug.
• If you need to replace an appliance to not feel pressured to go super high end.

A clean, fresh, bright kitchen that makes the most of the space will attract buyers.

A successfully staged kitchen:

• Looks, feels, and smells clean and fresh.
• Looks and feels spacious and light with plenty of room inside cupboards and closets.
• Is tasteful and good looking — there are no glaringly bad or out-of-date features.
• Looks welcoming; it’s easy for a buyer to envision using and enjoying the space.
• Shows signs of life but is not messy or cluttered.

Staging Tip #2

Have your kitchen professionally cleaned. Having a pro thoroughly clean your kitchen is one of the best investments you can make when preparing your home to sell. Yes, you could clean it yourself, but would it really look as good?

A sparkling-clean kitchen is one that looks its best and needs to be your top priority.

Staging Tip #3

No bad odors! Be hyper-aware of odors. Make sure all garbage, recycling and pet-related items are removed before showing your home. Clean your trash containers and ensure that even these smell nicely. Run a lemon down your garbage disposal.

Nothing turns off a potential buyer faster than a bad smell.

Introduce items that will contribute to a nice kitchen smell such as fresh-brewed coffee or flowers.

Staging Tip #4

Consider fresh paint. Aside from cleaning, fresh paint will give you the best return on your time and dollar investment.

Give your kitchen a new coat of paint in a hue that works with the color of your counters and cabinets — when in doubt, go with crisp white. If your kitchen was recently painted, take a close look at the walls and ceiling and touch up any imperfections, even tiny ones.

Staging Tip #5

Keep windows clean and clear. Clean the kitchen windows, inside and out. If you have heavy window coverings, consider removing them — or at the very least, be sure window coverings are completely open when you show your home.

Staging Tip #6

Clear the counters. A toaster and coffeemaker are just about the only things to consider leaving out on the counters. Put everything else out of sight.

Staging Tip #7

Potential buyers will be looking inside your cupboards. Ensure that your cupboards look nice and organized. If they look overstuffed, then that will hgive the potential buyer the impression that there isn’t enough storage space.

Remove excess stuff, mismatched items and anything that simply does not look good. If you still need to use these things, keep them in a box hidden on a high shelf in a closet during showings.

Staging Tip #8

Organize the pantry. Remove items that give the impression that there is not enough space. Each shelf needs to have some open space. Organize each shelf.

This may mean removing some key items that you use every day but remember that a staged kitchen is not necessarily a practical kitchen! As with items from your cupboards, keep extra pantry goods in a box and out of sight during showings.

Staging Tip #9

Set fancy hand and dish soap on a tray. Get rid of the gross old sponges and goopy dish soap containers, and replace them with nice-looking dish soap, hand soap and lotion and make it look neat and pretty on its own little tray.

Staging Tip #10

Make the faucet shine. A pretty, gleaming faucet makes a good impression. And make sure that there are no leaks. If there are then fix them.

Staging Tip #11

Accessorize the stovetop. A pretty pot or teakettle on the stovetop is a welcoming touch. Just be sure the one you choose is in perfect condition — no scratched-up old pans. Buy a new one if necessary.

Staging Tip #12

Add some tastefull accessories.

• Add new tea towels that are color coordinated with your kitchen.
• Set out fresh fruit in a bowl that is color coordinated with your kitchen.
• Have freshly cut flowers in a nice spot.

Cleaning Your Home for Sale

To help sell your home you need to make it look its best. Cleaning your home for sale or staging your kitchen will be one of the best investments you could make.

If you need some extra help before a major showing or an open house, then feel free to give us a call at 802-295-6065. A Clean Vision has been cleaning homes in the Upper Valley since 1993. We are family owned and operated and take great pride in keeping your home clean and tidy which will help to sell your home.