Adventures in Home Owning: Home Seller’s Checklist Before an Inspection

Dear Homeowner,

You’ve triumphed over the challenges of homeownership and now you have made it to this pivotal moment in your journey: saying goodbye to one home and welcoming in another. However, before you take the next step in your adventure you must complete a delicate and arduous task: reconfiguring the home that has been yours for months, years, even decades, into a space that is a blank canvas for the new homeowner, a space where they can envision their lives colliding with the walls, the rooms, and the spirit of the place. A difficult task, to be certain, but one that is not impossible with the help of a few useful tips.

It’s the little things. Take a look at your home from a buyer’s perspective. Make a list of all the little things you’d hoped to have completed or fixed over the years but, after some time, just accepted as the character of the home. Is the paint chipped on the front porch? Give it a new coat. Has the caulking worn away in the bathrooms? Clean it up. Does the latch on the bedroom door never quite work? Consider replacing it. Changing these small aesthetic elements can make a big difference when it comes to a potential buyer envisioning themselves in a home.

It’s the big things too. Be aware of how you use each of your rooms and to what end. Unnecessary clutter in an office or bedroom can make the room seem smaller than it is. Buyers might assume that there is not enough room to adequately house all of their belongings. Consider parting ways with, or putting into storage, furniture or belongings that have simply accumulated over the years,

Cleanliness is next to godliness. Everyone appreciates a clean space to live in. Do your very best to maintain the cleanliness of your property for each guest coming to visit. This can be as general as making sure counters are cleared off, shelves are dusted, and floors and carpets vacuumed, and as specific as tucking in the corners of a bed, making sure dishes are washed and put away, and the trash is taken out regularly. If you aren’t great shakes at cleaning, or if you just don’t have the time, consider hiring a local cleaner to help you maintain your home during the selling process.

Think outside the box. The box is, of course, your home. The outside is, well, the outside of your home. A weeded and healthy garden, filled in and even driveway, and clean sidings and patios can go a long way to making the first impression to a potential buyer. If they can’t imagine driving down the driveway every night, they’ll never stick around long enough to imagine what the inside could be.

Armed with these tools you should be well on your way to making your home a blank canvas for your future buyers. Until next time, homeowner!

If you need a checklist check out ours: https://norwayhillhomeinspections.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/sellers-checklist.pdf