Selling the home? Let's get to work

Clean it, fix it, paint it, trim it, before buyers arrive in spring

Mary Beth Breckenridge - Beacon Journal

You may think selling your house is strictly a financial transaction.

Wrong. It's a mind game.

Truth is, your house is worth only what someone else is willing to pay for it. So you want that someone to really, really, really want your house - enough that he or she will make you a really, really, really good offer.

And that's all about psychology.

"When it comes to selling a house, you have to appeal to the buyers' emotions," said Sharon Kreighbaum, who prepares homes for sale through her Hudson company, Staged Makeovers. You need to engage their senses, make them comfortable in your house and plant the notion that their life would be better there, she said.

If you're among the hordes of Americans with plans to list your house for sale this spring, consider yourself lucky. You have all fall and winter to get your house into tiptop, gotta-have-it condition.

That takes hard work and even some sacrifice. But the payoff is a house that sells quickly or for a good price - or better yet, both.

A good place to start is by assessing your home's condition and repairing the items that need it - mechanical systems, broken window sash cords, anything that might make a buyer start subtracting dollars off your asking price. Most buyers simply don't want a house that's going to require a lot of work or expense, said Ann Kyner, a Realtor with Howard Hanna Smythe Cramer Co. in Akron.

What's more, even little problems can plant big doubts in a buyer's mind, said Bob Reemsnyder, a Connecticut home inspector who wrote the book Prepare Your House for Sale. A potential buyer might see a rotted window sill, for example, and fear the house has more extensive damage that isn't visible. Regardless of whether that imagined damage really exists, the person could lose interest in the house altogether.

Besides, problems with your house are almost certain to show up later, when the buyer has a home inspection done, Reemsnyder said. At that point, those problems could even kill the deal, he said.

Reemsnyder recommended either hiring an inspector to point out the trouble spots before the house goes on the market, or doing your own inspection. His book guides homeowners through that process, and he also has checklists and a DVD inspection guide for sale on his company's Web site, www.finepointinspection.com. Remember, however, that Ohio law requires you to disclose known defects in a house to potential buyers. A report from an inspector would have to be part of that disclosure, Kyner said.

For that reason, Kyner said she usually counsels her clients to do their own inspections, without hiring a professional. She recommends they make sure the house's mechanical systems and other big-ticket items are in good order, but she said it's generally better not to have a pro's list of issues in writing that they'll have to hand to the buyer.

Reemsnyder said the most common problems he finds during inspections are deteriorating furnaces or boilers, quality issues in well water and leakage in basements.

Regular heating-system and well inspections should head off the first two problems, and proper drainage around the house probably will solve the latter. Extend downspouts away from the house, if necessary; clean gutters; and trim overgrown bushes around the foundation that could be holding water.

Maintenance issues are important to buyers, but so is the impression a house makes on them. Buyers want a house that's fresh, clean, neutral and not terribly outdated, Kyner said.

Kreighbaum goes even further with her clients' homes. She specializes in what's called "home staging," or decorating a house for maximum appeal to buyers. That involves a bit of theatrics to make it appear that the house represents a desirable lifestyle - a lifestyle that Kreighbaum admits might not be the way the homeowner really lives.

No matter how aggressive you want to be in preparing your home for sale, both Kyner and Kreighbaum recommended starting with a deep cleaning and a thorough decluttering. Buyers won't notice your home's best features if they're focusing on dirt, unpleasant odors, crammed closets and piles of stuff.

You're going to be moving anyway, they said, so pack up anything you won't be needing in the meantime. That includes collectibles, out-of-season clothing and even extra dishes and pans, Kreighbaum said. Remember that potential buyers will be looking into your cupboards and closets, and you want them to see lots of space.

Kreighbaum said it's OK to store the packed boxes in a basement or garage - stacked neatly, of course. If you have lots of stuff, however, consider renting a storage unit.

Clean, clean, clean

Then clean, clean and clean some more. Address carpet stains and marks on the walls. Clean or replace the grout and caulk in the bathroom so there are no mildew stains. Wash the windows, and get the dirty smudges off doors and light switch covers. You should even go so far as dusting the dirt and cobwebs off the furnace and water heater.

The point, Kreighbaum said, is to make the house scrupulously clean so buyers assume it has been meticulously maintained.

Unpleasant odors will ruin that impression of cleanliness. Unfortunately, we don't always notice the odors we live with every day. So ask your realty agent or a brutally honest friend to level with you about the smells in your house. Kreighbaum often suggests her clients buy or rent an ionizing air cleaner to remove odors that persist after cleaning.

(Be aware, however, that not all ionizers are equally effective, and that the level of ozone produced by some air cleaners is considered harmful to people with respiratory ailments. Research air cleaners before you buy or rent.)

Curb appeal counts

Maximizing a house's curb appeal is another important step, Kyner and Kreighbaum said, because that's the first impression people have of your house. If they don't like what they see from the outside, they might not even bother to go inside.

Remove trees, shrubs or low-hanging limbs that hide the house from the street, and trim branches that overhang walkways. Paint the front door and the door frame, if necessary, and replace aged light fixtures. Make sure the doorknob is clean - it's the first part of your house that buyers will touch - and either new or in good condition. When it's time for the house to hit the market, make sure the yard is weeded, trimmed and mowed.

Can't afford a new doorknob or light fixtures? Spray-paint them, Kreighbaum suggested.

Inside the house, an outdated or bold decorating scheme can turn off buyers, Kreighbaum said. So can wallpaper - even the ridiculously pricey wallpaper your interior decorator picked out just last year. Wallpaper just doesn't have universal appeal, she and Kyner said, and buyers perceive its removal as a very big pain.

Think neutral

It's important to get past your desire to impress buyers with your decorating taste, Kreighbaum said, and instead recognize that tastes vary widely. To appeal to the largest number of buyers, your goal should be to erase your own personality and decorate your home in a neutral, simple, up-to-date way. Think model home or luxury resort, she said.

She recommended repainting walls in neutral colors that are popular now, such as sage green, taupe or a pretty beige. Replace small knickknacks with a few big, stylish accessories. ("Less is more, and bigger is better," she said.) If you don't know what's current, she suggested going to the library and paging through design magazines, or watching the TV shows Designed to Sell on HGTV or Sell This House on A&E.

You should also eliminate anything that marks the house as yours or might offend a potential buyer, Kreighbaum said. That includes family photos, religious symbols, military or political books or items, and diplomas, trophies and awards. Even private-school memorabilia should go. It suggests, rightly or wrongly, that you're well-off and don't need to command the best price for the house, she explained.

Kreighbaum even suggested investing now in the furniture you were planning to buy for your new house, if you can afford to do so. If you can't, remove as much of your outdated furnishings as you can.

In fact, Kreighbaum typically removes much of the furniture from her clients' homes - often as much as half the family-room furniture. Get rid of anything that blocks pathways through the house, blocks the view out a window, obscures an interesting architectural feature or makes a room appear less than spacious. That can make a house less functional or comfortable to live in, she conceded, but it's a temporary sacrifice. "How you live in a house and how you sell it are two different things," she said.

And how effectively you sell your house can make your life a lot more pleasant for years to come.

Mary Beth Breckenridge is the Beacon Journal home writer. She can be reached at 330-996-3756, or at mbrecken@thebeaconjournal.com via e-mail.