Set the Stage: Moving Checklist
READY, SET, SELL!
Today’s buyer wants to be able to MOVE RIGHT IN. At JRE we offer you, the seller, a chance to Set the Stage prior to listing your house. Consult with our expert stagers to ready your home to be in move-in condition.
We will go through your house with a “Buyers Eye.” Often you don’t see what needs to be changed, fixed or neutralized. Let us advise you to condition your home to be Buyer Ready.
The following is a Staging checklist for you to consider:
• CLEAN! CLEAN: Have the carpet shampooed; wax the floors, wash the walls, windows, blinds, drapes, and light fixtures. Consider engaging a cleaning service, recognizing that it is a moving expense.
• KITCHEN AND BATHROOM: Clear off countertops. Leave your canisters and little else. Maximize the available counter space. These rooms should be gleaming. If unsightly, have the tub re-caulked and remove mineral deposits and grime from the shower walls. Clean the stove, microwave and refrigerator.
• CLOSETS: Remove the seasonal clothing. Organize your clothing and the shoes on the floor. Remove all clutter from cabinets and closets.
• FURNITURE: The less furniture, the larger a rooms appears to be.
• A LIGHT APPEARANCE: As a rule, do everything to lighten the appearance of the home. Raise the blinds, open the drapes, and use light colors.
• Repaint any room beginning to look shabby.
• OUTSIDE: Take a close look as you walk the property. Clean anything that looks unkempt or dirty; repair or replace anything that looks loose, dingy, rusted or broken. Make sure the doorbell works. Replace a tired looking mail box, clean the exterior light fixtures and wash the windows. Try to spot hanging or rusty gutters, crooked antenna, loose shingles or shutters.
• THE YARD: Turn and weed the flowers beds; trim the trees and shrubs. Mend the fence, fix the gate latch. Pick up litter.
• OUTDOOR FURNITURE: Examine and spot paint your outdoor furniture. If it is rusty or un-repairable consider disposing of the pieces.
• FRONT ENTRY: It is the first thing your buyers see as they stand and wait to enter your house. It is worth the extra effort to spruce it up.
• THE GARAGE: The time has come. Discard virtually everything in the garage that has not been used for a year. Wash it down.
Put yourself in the buyer’s shoes...take a walk through your home as if you were considering buying it.