We just finished up a photoshoot at a friend’s house in Tewksbury that will be coming on the market soon (contact us if you want to know where!) and found it almost comical how many times we pointed out to the sellers the difference between how one lives in a house and how one presents it for sale to buyers. What works for you in day-to-day life is sometimes completely irrelevant to how to show off the home’s best features.
The winter climate in New Jersey gives us some extra challenges in presenting a property in its best possible light, but here are some ideas to help sellers overcome the obstacles that the winter months present:
- Make the house smell great — Who doesn’t have a soft spot for for the smell of chocolate chip cookies or apple pie baking in the oven?
- Make the house warm and cozy — Light a fire in the fireplace or wood stoves before showings.
- Show off the property’s appeal in warmer months — Display photos of the property/home in warmer months. These can be in frames on a bookshelf or table or in an album. This is particularly important for properties with pools and/or beautiful gardens.
- Clear the walkways and driveway early and often — We saw our house the morning after a big snowstorm and not only was there not a snowflake on the driveway, but the driveway was dry, with high piles of fluffy white snow on either side. It sent us the message that the driveway was easy to maintain in the winter.
- Bring the life inside to the forefront — Cut flowers in the center of a table or in a small arrangement in bathrooms bring a bit of spring inside. Plants in sunny areas of the house are also appealing (Last week, in a home in Mendham, we saw the biggest, pinkest Christmas cactus we’ve ever seen and it accented the sun-filled room.)
If you’d like advice on what you can do to make your home in top shape for potential buyers for a home sale now or in 2013, contact Leaf, Realtors at 908-975-9756.