We all heard the news that the groundhog saw his shadow, so now we will have 6 more weeks of winter. Let’s take that time to prepare the house for selling in the spring. Its cold outside so it is a great time to work inside. We can do some of the outside work when it warms up outside.
You can rent a storage unit to store some of your cluttering items when you do not want to sell them. Just don’t go out shopping after you de-cluttered your home to fill it back up.
Keep the interior neutral
We all have our own taste for decorating, and over the years we may have imprinted our taste onto the house. When you are planning on selling the house, you may determine to remove your personal taste and make it more appealing to the masses. A Nautical theme might be your taste but when you are looking for a solid buyer you need to neutralize the nautical themed color and decoration to a more neutral color pallet.
The black, hunter green, or any other dark color your teenager used to paint their bedroom should receive a few coats of a color block paint before you add a more neutral color to the walls. I had one of those and it took many hours and several coats of paint to make the color disappear because I did not use a color block paint.
De-personalize the house
We all have pictures of ourselves and family members on walls, countertops, shelves, and mantel. Nothing wrong with that, we all want to keep them close.
Just for security reasons, it is advised that you remove anything that is personal, such as taking pictures down and replacing them with other pictures that are more generic, or just leave the area blank. You can de-personalize the house by taking pictures down. Consider removing anything else that is more personal to you and your family, like the kids or other family member’s trophies and awards.
Another reason for the de-personalization is that you want a buyer to be able to envision themselves in your house. It might be hard to do for some when they see your family pictures instead of theirs.
Time to make some minor updates
Just minor updates can make a huge difference. When the kitchen cabinets are still in good shape, consider either changing or adding knobs or other hardware. New paint, new countertops, faucets, and new lighting can make a huge difference in a worn kitchen.
The same will hold true for a bathroom. Many times you can change and update the look of a bathroom with a new coat of paint, faucets, and lighting. When you add a new shower curtain and floor mats, you have completed a partial remodel for a greater reduction in price than a total bathroom remodel.
All this can easily be accomplished during the few days of what we have left in the winter. In no time you can have your house ready to be put on the market.