Selling your home in a buyer's market can be challenging, but not impossible.

With the buyer’s market still prevailing in the Santa Clarita area, sellers are looking for ways to get their homes sold in a reasonable timeframe.

In order to get a home sold, sellers need to be aware of what a buyer is looking for these days, and they need to fulfill that need as much as possible. Simply stated, a typical buyer is looking for a well-priced home (a "deal" of sorts), in a nice area, that shows some pride of ownership.

If your home is marketed with photos showing dirty dishes, plastic bags hanging from the backs of the dining room chairs, an abundance of clutter, or anything that clearly needs repair, you’re putting yourself at a disadvantage. "Staging" is the big buzz-word these days, but quite honestly most homes just need a good cleaning and clutter-clearing to get them looking light years better.

Honestly, folks, if your home is cluttered when the photographer arrives, MOVE THE JUNK before he takes the photo. You can move it back to where it was once the photo is taken, but showing your dirty dishes and unmentionables to the world is not a good way to market your home! Truthfully, the junk should stay moved so people visiting your home can see it at its finest as well, but life goes on, and sometimes a spotless home can be nearly impossible to maintain for any length of time.

It’s amazing what people are allowing the world to see these days, as all of these clutter-filled photos get blasted all over the internet. It doesn’t matter if you’re an empty-nester or a couple with brand-new triplets… you can still move the clutter as the photographer works his way through your home.

Marketing a home for sale in a buyer’s market is part art, and part science. The "art" part comes into play when preparing a home for sale, and you definitely want to have your home looking its best.

Think about it… If you were getting ready to put your Vintage Hot Rod up for sale, wouldn’t you give it a thorough wash and a new coat of wax, vacuum the carpets and upholstery, and Armor All the dashboard and tires to make them shine like new? Why wouldn’t you do that for your house as well?

Here are a few simple tricks of the trade to get your home looking spiffy in a jiffy, and at little or no cost:

• Box It! If you’re not using items currently, like seasonal clothes or Xmas decorations, box them up and either put them in the garage or in storage. This includes your favorite collection of Kewpie dolls.
• Organize It! For items that you need on hand, find a way to keep them available without having them hanging all over the place. Using stackable plastic containers or baskets to store small items can be a real lifesaver.
• Donate It! For items that have overstayed their welcome, it’s probably time to let them go. This goes for old clothes and toys as well as items that need repair. If you haven’t repaired it by now, you probably won’t get to it any time soon. Donate old items to your favorite local charity, or visit FreeCycle.com to list items for people to pick up.
• Dump It! Old newspapers and magazines, trash, old moldy shampoo bottles, and items well beyond repair should hit either the trash bin or the recycle bin. Limit the amount of bottles of "stuff" in your bathroom to the items you actually use, and eliminate the stuff that’s been rotting under your sink for the last 12 years. If you need an extra recycle bin, just ask for it… most Santa Clarita trash haulers will provide an extra recycle bin for free.
• Fix It! If you’ve got a loose kitchen or bathroom tile, or missing grout, get a little goop and premixed grout from Home Depot and get these minor repairs taken care of.
• Scrub It! A little cleanliness goes a long ways. Clean walls, baseboards, furniture, blinds, floors, countertops, windows and your front door until they sparkle. And don’t waste a ton of paper towels and toxic cleaning stuff to do it - get yourself a Microfiber Cloth, and use it with a little water for most minor messes and wall marks. While you’re at it, scrub the bathroom and kitchen grout to remove all those years of ground-in junk. Steam cleaners and bleach pens can be a real help with messy grout.

Need help selling your home? Call me! You can reach me at 661.670.0349.

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