There are several obvious ways to make your home more appealing to buyers. Making sure the home is clean, tone down loud paint colors, and tidy up your landscaping to enhance curb appeal. But then there are also several subtle ways to make your home more appealing to buyers. And these subtle changes can make a big difference in helping your buyers feel more at home, which ultimately increases your chances of getting a solid offer.
Here are four subtle ways to make your home more appealing to buyers.
1. Depersonalize
When buyers see family photos, awards, and sports memorabilia everywhere they look, they are constantly being reminded that this is someone else’s home. Psychologically, this makes it more difficult for buyers to imagine this as their own home.
To help buyers feel at home and imagine themselves living in the space, store the personal keepsakes, and use neutral decor. The less personal you can make your home, the better. It’s only for a short time, and you’ll be reunited with your favorite personal things in your new home!
2. Create Inviting Lighting
Lighting plays a major role in making a space feel inviting. In smaller rooms, make sure the windows are clean and that the blinds and drapes are wide open to allow as much light in as possible. This will make the room feel brighter and larger. And if you’ll be doing nighttime showings, make sure you have ample lighting. It helps to have all the lights on when buyers enter the home (as opposed to turning lights on and off as they progress through the home tour).
And for large areas, lighting can be used to create more intimate spaces. Lamps around a conversation area, under-cabinet lighting in the kitchen, and spotlights to highlight architectural features all create a mood that draws buyers in.
3. Pay Attention to Scent
Scent is tricky because most of us don’t notice smells in our own homes. We’re used to the pet smells, cooking smells, or smoking smells that can put buyers off.
Unfortunately, it’s not as simple as using sprays or plugins to create a fresh scent. Many of the air fresheners on the market smell like chemicals or are nauseatingly overpowering. Your better bet is to keep houseplants, which can help clean the air inside your home. If you have a showing scheduled, you can light high-quality candles or even bake cookies just before your buyers arrive to make your home smell inviting.
4. Clean Out the Storage Spaces
There is never enough storage space! And when your buyers open cabinets and closets (which they will), and they see things packed in tightly, they immediately think there must not be enough storage space.
To give the impression that your house has more storage space than you know what to do with, clear those cabinets and closets out. You can store everything you won’t need until the move with a friend or at a storage facility. If you have just a single stack of towels in your linen cabinet, that cabinet looks huge. And your coat closet will look massive with just one coat per person hanging neatly.
We know it can be hard to see your house through fresh eyes. That’s why our experienced real estate agents offer personalized suggestions to help you make your house show its best! No detail is too small when it comes to maximizing the profits on the sale of your home.
If you’re considering selling your Bay Area home, contact Sequoia Real Estate for a free, no-obligation consultation. We’re excited to show you how much you can get for your home!