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With the majority of the world stuck at home due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, homeowners who were considering selling their home in Nanaimo “before Corona” may feel stuck until everything gets back to normal. Typically, as a Nanaimo Realtor, the spring housing market would be in full effect by now; however, coronavirus has put a short-term freeze on most, if not all, real estate activity. In any event, now is the perfect time for homeowners to take advantage of all this extra time spent at home and start prepping their property to put it on the market. Here's a list of seven steps you can take to prepare your home so when the COVID-19 pandemic dies down in a couple of months, and the economy is ramping up again, you will be one step ahead of the game and ready to sell your home in Nanaimo.
1. Address any minor repairs.
I'm sure there's a list of minor repairs that you've meant to do for the past year, but you just haven't had time to get around to them. For example, you meant to fix the door handle on your bedroom door last week, or you have a toilet that's been running for a while that needs to be repaired.
Whatever minor fixes are on your to-do list, you should take care of them before you put your home on the market. Typically, these repairs will not take much effort on your part, but they will go a long way in making sure your home gives off a great first impression to prospective buyers. Clean up your tile floors and scrub them in trouble spots. Remove odor from your carpet. Clean the garage & basement.
2. Focus on improving your home’s curb appeal.
Curb appeal refers to the way your property looks when a prospective buyer views it from the street. It is this view that often serves as the first impression of your property. That said, as the weather is starting to break and you’re probably dying to get out of the house, this is the perfect time to start focusing on your curb appeal. Make sure your lawn is mowed and attended to, and any weeds and scrubs are plucked and removed. On a hot day, consider power washing your home exterior, including any decks or patios. On the next beautiful spring day, get outside and plant some lovely flowers, and take care of your garden.
3. Get your paperwork in order.
Often times, sellers forget that selling a home is more than just making sure your home is visually appealing to prospective buyers. It also includes being able to provide them with important documentation and information that may be requested during the sale. As such, this is the perfect time to gather all your essential paperwork as it relates to your home. This paperwork may include your recent utility bills, any permits for any renovation work you may have done in the past, or even a land survey. Overall, think about any paperwork or questions that you had when you purchased your property and be prepared to answer them for the next buyer.
4. Clean, declutter, and depersonalize
While you're inside your home and have nothing else to do, this is the perfect time to clean, declutter and depersonalize your home. Make sure every surface is sparkling, and all dust is removed. Pay attention to everything from your ceiling fan to your floors.
When prospective buyers are touring your home, they want to visualize themselves living in the property. As such, this is the time to depersonalize and take out anything personal to you and pack them away. Your goal should be to make it extremely easy for buyers to visualize themselves in your home.
Reorganizing in every room is ideal. Make sure you organize closets and drawers. Having a house full of messy closets implies that your home doesn’t have enough storage space. Additionally, it makes it challenging for prospective buyers to assess the size and amount of closet space throughout the property.
5. Make your front door inviting.
While it is true that curb appeal is the first thing or the first impression that your buyer will have, arguably, your front door is the second impression. As such, you want to make sure your front door is as inviting as possible. If you're going to make your front door stand out, a fresh coat of paint is ideal. You could paint the front door in a color that contrasts with the home so that the front door stands out. Additionally, make sure your house numbers are not faded and can be seen from the curb. If the house numbers are old or small, consider purchasing new ones.
6. Buy a new welcome mat & rugs for around your home.
Although most of us have been on Amazon and other sites, shopping just a little bit too much, this is probably the perfect time to get online and find new welcome mats to add to your front door appeal. Additionally, you may want to purchase new rugs for all the entrances and exits to your home, so that open house attendees can wipe their shoes when touring your home.
7. Neutralize You Paint Colors
If you’re a color fanatic and every room in your house is a different color, this is an excellent opportunity to paint each room in your home a neutral color. By neutralizing your paint colors, this makes it easier for prospective buyers to visualize themselves in your home.
Overall, the coronavirus has disrupted everyone’s life in some shape or form. Still, we can all use this time as an opportunity to reset and attend to things that we usually wouldn’t have time to do. The Nanaimo real estate market will eventually start up again, and you want to make sure that your home is market-ready when it does.
