Author: Neil Walton, Denver Realtor

Do you want to sell your home quickly?  Don’t want to hire a professional stager at $100/ hour?  Here are 5 sure fire tricks that will help get your home sold quickly without spending too much.

1. Take Down Your Personal Photos – I watch my clients stare at photos of the owners and their grandparents, kids, cousins, parents, etc.  They then try to get all CSI to figure out who lives there.  I want my clients to see themselves in the home rather than you.  Take down those photos and get your religious items off the walls.

2. Get Rid of Your Clutter – Stuff collects over the years on counters, shelves, closets, etc.  Get rid of 90% of it.  You want someone looking at your home rather than the titles of your CD collection.  Get everything off your kitchen counters.  If you have kids put their toys away.

Take all of the clutter and put it in boxes and either store it in a corner of the garage or rent a storage space for $50/ month.  If you’re wondering if it’s clutter, then it probably is and it should go.  The less distractions that a potential buyer has the better.

3. Rearrange and Neutralize Rooms – Give every room a purpose.  Paint the walls, trim and doors to give it a clean newer look.  The return on investment is worth its weight in gold.  Organize the closets.  Anything that you have not worn in the last year… get rid of it.  Throw out those 10 year old shoes that you never wear.  I suggest walking through a model home to get an idea of what a clean well displayed room looks like.

4. Scrub and Deodorize – Nothing worse than a smelly dirty home.  Hire a professional crew to get in there and scrub off the years of filth you have created.  This includes windows, garage, basements, appliances, etc.  Clean before EVERY showing.

Bake some cookies and leave them out for potential buyers and agents.  It makes the house smell amazing and allows the buyer some time to relax in the kitchen and feel at home.

Take out your garbage and don’t spray deodorizer to cover up any smells.  Get rid of the root problems.

5. Enhance Your Curb Appeal – The exterior of the home is just as important as the interior.  Pressure clean the exterior, mow the lawn, clean the sidewalks of debris, clean the driveway, etc.  Paint your entry way door. The exterior is the first impression and it needs to be a good one.

A cheap solution for unsightly landscaping is to get some mulch.  Many cities give it away for free.