The 3 P’s of Preparing Your Home to Sell

Puget Sound Real Estate Podcast with Celeste Zarling

Ignoring your curb appeal as a seller is a huge mistake. You’ve likely all heard that we’re in a hot seller’s market, but even though things tend to skew in favor of home sellers, you’re making a huge mistake if you’re not sprucing up your curb appeal before you list your home. Most buyers are first searching for homes online and then driving by them before they decide if they even want to go inside the home. I offer staging for every home I sell, which can do wonders for sellers, but if they don’t like the outside of the home, they’re not going to come inside for a showing. To best prepare your home for the market, remember the three P’s: 1. Pressure wash. Wash the area from where the buyer is likely to park all the way to the front door, and make sure it’s sparkling clean. “The three P’s of home preparation will help buyers decide if they want to buy your home even as they walk through the door.” 2. Paint. If it fits in your budget, go ahead and paint the whole house in neutral colors and give your front door a pop of color. If not, at least touch up the areas where paint is needed, such as where you spot scratches and scuffs. 3. Plant some flowers. Plant shrubs or flowers along the walkway to the front door to give your buyers a pleasant sensory experience. I always recommend planting honeysuckle; it looks and smells good to buyers, butterflies, and hummingbirds. You can also try adding some planters to either side of your front door to give it a nice symmetric look; this also allows your buyers to clearly envision themselves sitting there on the front porch or deck. If you follow these three P’s of curb appeal, it will help buyers decide whether they want to buy your home even as they’re walking into the door. For any other questions you have about preparing your home for sale or real estate in general, don’t hesitate to reach out to me. I’d love to hear from you.