A frank discussion of a few sensitive subjects, and a few notes from photographing thousands of properties. Someone has to say these hard things!
1) Please get rid of that Giant Ottoman… or at least hide it or place it in storage awaiting your new home. They never look good. They are never the right scale for the room (only the right scale for giant overstuffed furniture that should not be there in the first place). They always seem to block the flow of the room and make any room look smaller (because it is smaller with that giant seldom used thing in the middle of the room)
2) Your Dog, Dogs or Cat, Cats SMELL… OK animal lovers don’t all attack at once. We are talking about cold hard facts here. Facts that will cost you more than you paid for that fancy Dog or Cat. Remember “It’s not your home.” The one thing a buyer has no intention of buying is the lingering odor of your pets.
You don’t notice it anymore and neither does your family. They are members of your family and just saying “your house smells like a dog” is something not considered proper in polite conversation. Febreze! Febreze! Febreze! I can’t say it enough. Get rid of the smell at all costs. It will hurt the sale. I have no financial interest in Febreze but you have a very large financial interest in the final sale price of your home. Do your own research on what works best, just please do what they say until it works.
And while we are at it remove the land mines from the back and front yards. Be meticulous about this. Nothing is worse than a buyer stepping in it. If they don’t step in it they will see it. It will say the owners don’t really care about this property. The impression you don’t want to give is one of the Clampetts, even though Ellie May did love them critters, or worse yet Li’l Abner’s Dog Patch. Neither adds to the value of your property.
3) Rotate your round breakfast table and chairs 45 degrees… Nine out of ten times when you rotate these chairs they wind up with their back facing the corners of the room. News flash, doors and foot traffic paths are seldom in corners. It makes for better traffic flow and even allows for easier access through those sliding doors to the deck. There is no hard fast rule about this just take the 60 seconds to move those chairs from their standard cross to the X positions. Most will find more room suddenly appears and looks even nicer. Try it you’ll like it. If not move them back.
Check back for more Frank discussions. Add your own tips in comments below.
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