New Orleans Louisiana Real Estate and Community Blog 

When selling a home, everyone knows a neat, clean tidy home makes a great first impression, and can often mean the difference between a showing and a sale. Sometimes we don’t always see what a potential buyer may see. Or we may not always showcase our home in the best light. Often it’s the smallest things that can make one home shine over another. So think in terms of these suggestions when preparing your home for sale:

• Clean and freshen your patio, front entrance, and yard with new plants and flowers. Remove and replace dead plants. No one likes seeing wilted life at an entrance!
  
• Thoroughly clean your house including your front entrance, all doors, and all windows. Pretend the President is stopping by for a visit.
  
• Remove as much stuff and clutter from the floor like waste baskets, pet beds, litter boxes, magazine baskets, etc, as possible. It will open your room up and give the appearance of more space. Okay, pull it out again after every showing, but trust me, it makes your home more inviting! No one wants to see or smell a litter box!
  
• Consider removing (gasp!) about 30% of your furniture. This will visually open up your rooms and allow for more space, a key component of every buyer, young or old. Everyone is looking for more space when they buy.
  
• Remove photographs and mementos from your refrigerator door. I know this is hard, but trust me, potential buyers will often stop and stare at your personal stuff, and you really want the attention on the house not your beach photos! In fact, if you can manage it, remove all personal photographs. It is just too tempting for potential buyers to stop and gaze on your life’s activities. I see it every day!
  
• Clear your kitchen counters of small appliances and clutter. No peanut butter jars, loaves of bread or dirty dishes.. Again, space and cleanliness are essential.
  

• Clear your bathroom vanity of all clutter including makeup, hair brushes, hair dryer, etc. Even your toothbrush. As strange as it sounds, remove your toilet plunger, put out a full roll of toilet paper on your roll, and remove wet towels. Your bathroom should look like a showplace.
  

• And didn’t your momma teach you to make your bed and hang up your clothes?
  

Well, the list isn’t a complete list, but it certainly gets you moving in the right direction. Once you start to de-clutter you will become an expert a making your home shine to a potential buyer! What you are trying to accomplish, is for a potential buyer to imagine themselves in your home. A clean, clutter free home that reflects that same sort of lifestyle-clean, clutter free and stress free.

Please call me at 504-812-8481 or email me at cjdixon@latterblum.com if I can be of any help!

Posted by:Carol-Jean Dixon