You’re ready to sell your home in Murphy, North Carolina, and you want to pull out all the stops to attract home buyers. You’ll get your house clean enough to pass the “white glove test,” and you’ll hire a lawn service to keep the property in tip-top shape. You know that properly staging a home can increase its appeal to buyers searching the MLS, and that can go a long way toward getting an offer.

Unfortunately, you don’t have big bucks to hire a home stager. So, get ready to handle the home staging work yourself. With just a little time and creativity, you can create an environment that makes home buyers feel welcome, and that could convince them to make their move.

Then, you’re ready to call your real estate agent, who will hire a professional photographer with the skills to make your home really shine. Next, your realtor will place your property on the MLS listings, and will launch a marketing program that helps you to sell your property.

Get Your Home “White Glove” Clean

When it comes to selling your home, first impressions really do count. When potential buyers approach your front door, you want them to see an immaculately clean exterior that beckons them inside.

If your budget allows, call a professional cleaning service, and have them do a top-to-bottom clean of every room. If that’s not feasible, roll up your sleeves and prepare to get a good cleaning workout. Don’t forget the small stuff such as ceiling fans, windows, and baseboards.

Steam clean your carpets, or refinish your wood floors so they shine. Replace your low-wattage bulbs with 100+ wattage bulbs, as that will help your house to look larger and brighter.

Give Your House That “Fresh and Clean” Scent

When potential home buyers walk through your front door, you don’t want them to be overwhelmed by strong cooking odors. While your home is on the real estate market, opt for less-objectionable smells – or dine out and avoid the entire issue. If anyone in the home smokes, address the lingering smoke smell.

If you have pets, banish those annoying pet odors that could cause a potential buyer to take your home out of contention. Wash your dog’s or cat’s bed, and ramp up the maintenance on your cat’s litter box.

Update Your Home’s Walls and Décor

You’ve always enjoyed your home’s vibrantly colored walls, painted in the colors of your favorite Grand Canyon vacation spot. However, those custom colors could turn off a potential home buyer, as they want to visualize the home as a blank canvas that’s ready for their special touch.

So, bite the bullet and give your Murphy, North Carolina home a neutral paint scheme. Unless your realtor tells you otherwise, tones of white or off-white are a universally accepted choice. Also, consider that lighter colors can help to make a smaller home seem more spacious. And remember, you can always add color with furniture and accent pieces, such as pillows and throws.

Speaking of home décor, send your vintage curtains to the thrift store. Update your windows with budget-friendly blinds or other window treatments. While you’re in “thrift store” mode, donate your silk flowers and other outdated décor items, too. If flowers are faded or dust-covered, do the non-profit store a favor, and banish the items to the trash.

Rearrange Furniture for Better Traffic Flow

Chances are, you’re happy with your furniture layout. Even if the current arrangement constitutes an obstacle course, you know each piece’s location, so you can subconsciously navigate around them.

However, prospective home buyers might think you have far too much furniture, and the pieces’ arrangement doesn’t promote open traffic flow. In fact, crowding a room with oversized furniture can make it seem smaller. So, pare down the furniture, and ensure that a buyer can move around the room (and through your home) without constantly banging their shins.

Maybe you’d like to relegate your older furniture to the basement. Instead, consider purchasing some inexpensive furniture coverings, and get some more life out of those “well-used” favorite pieces. Remember, when you’re selling your home, nothing is off limits.

Pare Down Your Living Room Decor

You’ve given your living room a generous serving of table and wall décor. Even by your own admission, however, the room is looking a bit cluttered. So, pack away the great majority of those items, leaving only a few touches of color that nicely contrast with the furniture.

When you’ve completed that task, create a small vignette that makes the living room seem cozy and inviting. For example, put an opened magazine on the coffee table, or arrange fresh flowers on the end table. Don’t go overboard, though, or the buyer will think they’re touring a furniture store.

Maximize Your Dining Room’s Appeal

Create the illusion of extra dining room space by removing extra table leaves. If you have a drop-leaf table, fold the leaves down so the table appears as small as possible.

Next, set the table for dinner. Remember, you want home buyers to visualize themselves enjoying the house, and creating a pleasing vignette will help them to complete that picture.

Give Your Kitchen an Affordable Update

If your kitchen cabinets look a bit tired, you don’t need to spend big bucks replacing them (or even replacing the cabinet fronts). Instead, spruce up the cabinets with a quality paint job.

Next, take everything off the kitchen counters – including the small appliances. You don’t want the buyer to be distracted by all the surplus “stuff.” Next, remove those funky refrigerator magnets, and minimize the items stored on top of the fridge.

Banish kitchen odors by grinding lemon rind into the garbage disposal. If you don’t have one, pour hot salt water down the drain several times weekly.

Brighten Up Your Bedrooms’ Decor

For a fresh bedroom update that won’t cost a fortune, buy bed-in-a-bag combos for each of your home’s bedrooms. Don’t spend lots of money on a designer or brand-name collection. Instead, hit the big box or local discount store, and save some cash for other staging projects.

Choose a muted print or solid that complements the walls and matches your general décor. Remember, bedrooms are for relaxation and sleep, so ensure that the room’s furnishings and décor help to create that impression for prospective home buyers.

Give Your Bathrooms a Makeover

Your family spends considerable time in the bathroom, so the vanity and storage cabinets might show some wear and tear. Give your wooden cabinets a brand-new paint job. If the cabinets are made of a different material, get them squeaky clean with a safe cleaner.

Regardless of the cabinets’ style, buying coordinated knob/pulls, plus matching towel bars and toilet paper holders, will update the bathroom’s look at minimal expense. Buy a cloth shower curtain, or wash the current one, to make it look fresh and new.

Pack Up Your Personal “Stuff”

When potential home buyers enter your house, they’d like to imagine themselves living there. If your family’s personal possessions (and keepsakes) have essentially taken over the home, the buyer might find it difficult to imagine themselves in your family’s personal space.

So, carefully pack your family photos, sports memorabilia and other personalized items into boxes or bins. If you have personal items you’d like to keep with you, put them out of sight in a drawer or closet.

If you have decorated an entire room in a specific motif, remember that not everyone will share your passion. So, pack those items safely away, and plan to use them in your next home. If you’ve painted the walls in anything except a neutral tone, repaint them before the house hits the market.

Maybe you have excess sheets and linens, seasonal clothes, and other surplus items you don’t currently need. Pare down the clothes in your closets, too. Take those items to a storage unit, as you want home buyers to perceive your home as having tons of storage space (that they’ll hopefully want to fill).

After you’ve successfully staged your home in Murphy, North Carolina, you’re ready to Sell Your Home in Murphy and, you’re ready to open the house to prospective home buyers. When your realtor has sold the property, and your real estate transaction is in the history books, you can move on to the next chapter in your life.

Want expert guidance to sell your home in Murphy? Our experienced realtors in Murphy NC are ready to help you make the best move.

The Poltrock Team – REMAX Mountain Properties – Murphy NC – www.ILoveMurphy.com – Call us Toll Free at 1-866-Murphy-NC or 1-866-687-7496 – Murphy’s #1 Real Estate Team