Over the past few weeks J and I have been addicted to HGTV. Every night you can find us glued to the latest episode of Rehab Addict, planning our own renovations during Property Brothers and cheering on Hillary during Love It or List It.
While we don’t have a house of our own yet, we have definitely been learning a lot about buying/selling homes and DIY projects around the house. J and I can’t help but dream of the amazing property we want to purchase in the future and all of the exciting things we will be able to do once we own our own place.
The funny thing is as we have watched these shows over the past few weeks, our apartment has been open for showings as our landlord tries to rent it out for next year. Unfortunately, this is taking a bit longer than expected and is a bit disruptive to our routine. I mean no one wants to be getting out of the shower with a handful of strangers touring our very tiny apartment– yes that happened.
In an effort to help move the process along, J and I made a few little tweaks (with a little help from HGTV) around the house and the place was snapped up in just a few short days. Here are a few things you can do either as a renter or home owner to help rent or sell your home.
- Clean it up! Dust the shelves, clean the mirrors and vacuum the floors. No one wants to live in a old, drifty home, so putting a few extra minutes in to clean around the house before a showing can really impact the look and feel of a home.
- Spell it out! Take the guess work out for the potential buyers/renters. Make a sign (like the one above) that welcomes them into the home and gives them some insider information to the place. You won’t always be there if they have questions, so answer them before they ask them. Include the average cost of utilities, laundry, etc.
- Put away the pictures! De-personalize and de-clutter. Start packing and put away some of your family pictures and nicknacks. The point here is for the renter/buyer to feel like they could live here, so making the home feel a little more generic can help a renter/buyer imagine what it would look like if they moved in.
- Stage, stage, stage. Like number 3, staging is all about helping the renter/buyer feel like they could live in your home. Light some candles (only if you will be home of course), put out some flowers and make sure every room has furniture and functions as a room. You can even take the extra step of setting the dinning room table!
- Post it! Make sure people know about your home and how special it is. Post it on Craig’s list, the white pages, and check your realtor’s listing. It is also important to post quality pictures that show off the apartment. When J and I found our realtor’s listing for our apartment we noticed that the pictures were from 5 years ago. Since then we had gotten a brand new kitchen and the walls had gotten a facelift, so we called our realtor and had them take some new pictures which made the apartment look much better