You were planning on selling your house, but with the current situation have decided to hold off for the moment. Instead of just waiting around, there’s plenty you can do in the meantime to increase your home’s value and appeal to buyers when you are ready to go on the market!

According to the National Association of Realtors, 63% of homebuyers will request to see a home after seeing one they like online. We really feel that number should be 100% though, where else is anyone looking at homes these days? We like to say that the first showing/tour of your home takes place online. We want to be sure that the professional photos that we take look as good as possible to draw in the most in person showings that we can. “If your home is not compelling, it is not selling.”

First, walk around your home as a potential buyer, see it through their eyes. What are the things you notice first? The lawn, shrubbery, and general upkeep of the home are all very important for the buyers initial impression. Many buyers will make up their mind about a home as they are walking toward the front door, if they are not making up their mind they are making assumptions that can sway the tour in good or bad directions. One of the most common curb appeal killers, and easiest fixes, is to simply give those tall and window-obscuring shrubs and bushes out front a nice flat-top trim ore removing them completely and replacing with less obscuring, clean, low maintenance landscaping. Letting prospective buyers see the full front of the house with windows and it will go a long way toward selling your house quickly.

Next, if you own a pressure washer or know someone that does (and can safely lend it to you using social distancing!), start it up on a nice day and watch the grime and mold you didn’t even know was there be washed away. Use it on the outside of your house for siding, soffits and facia, sidewalks, fence, and deck to make them shine like new! It’s amazing how satisfying pressure washing can be!

If you’re the kind of person that’s always buying things to start a project but then never actually start the project, you’re really in luck! Grab some paint and fix any peeling paint on your house and trim, or give your house a whole new look and paint the front door!  Hang up the blinds and curtains that you never got around to hanging! Finish painting that room you wanted to paint! Paint is one of the most cost effective upgrades you can do to your home. Our recommendations on colors: do not go too crazy (we want to appeal to the masses) and talk to our in house designer at Grey Duck Properties Duck Staging and Design! Check out Grey Duck Staging’s Instagram for even more inspiration!

You can also brighten up your house by taking your screens off and giving them a good wash along with your windows. You can even use the pressure washer and just keep the screens on!

Now’s also the perfect time to tackle all the typical spring time clean up things. Raking your yard, taking down any vines or plants that are getting overgrown, and making sure the sewer grates in front of your house are cleared so when we inevitably get those spring rains your street doesn’t flood. Make sure your gutters are cleaned out and get gardens ready for when we can plant again!

We want to make sure everyone is staying safe and staying home. Please don’t use this time during the stay-at-home order to take unnecessary trips to the store. If you have any questions or would like any more information, please don’t hesitate to call. We’re all in this together - but separately, at home!