Ranked high among the top places to live in Missouri, Kirkwood is a community with a rich history and vibrant energy. A great place to live, work, and play, it’s no surprise the Kirkwood area is among the most highly sought-after locales in the Greater Saint Louis area.
If you’re planning to take advantage of this white-hot market, consider these helpful tips to prepare your Kirkwood home for sale. These simple solutions can help you attract the right buyer and decrease the amount of time your home is on the market.
Declutter and depersonalize
When a prospective buyer enters a home for the first time, it’s important to remember the impact of first impressions on the decision-making process. It’s important for sellers to create a near-blank slate when listing their home. A home free of clutter, dust, and grime offers the best chance to be noticed. If you’re not able to deep-clean your home on your own, a professional cleaning service is a great solution.
Keep your home’s furnishings to a minimum when possible. This way, buyers can focus on the beautiful details and features of your home. Consider storing away items you don’t need for everyday use. You should also find ways to minimize the clutter and depersonalize each space in the home. Doing so will help you save time when you're ready to relocate.
Refresh paint and update fixtures
Repainting your home is an easy way to update its appearance before listing it on the market. Use neutral colors and save the white paint for baseboards, crown moldings, and trim. Neutral colors are best to create a contemporary look for your home’s interior and attract prospective buyers.
Replacing fixtures is another great way to improve the allure of your home for potential buyers. Avoid ornate detailing. Instead, opt for practical and modern fixtures, including lights, door knobs, and faucets. If you want to implement this solution, consult your realtor or research what’s trending.
Let the light in
There’s something memorable about walking into a room flooded with natural light. The ability to see light streaming in creates a calm and inviting atmosphere. Natural light makes a home seem larger and cleaner, which is why it’s a great way for prospective buyers to envision your home’s potential.
Begin by cleaning every window in the home. Alternatively, you can hire a professional window cleaning service to do the job. Open all window treatments when showing your home, and replace heavy, drab drapes with bright, delicate curtains.
Neutralize odors
Many homeowners with pets or who smoke tend to become “nose-blind” when it comes to picking up odors that may be inside their home. When a prospective buyer visits a home, these odors may stand out and signal the difference between a good first impression and a negative one.
Before showing your home to prospective buyers, hire a professional cleaning service to get rid of lingering odors, or use an air freshener.
For subtle odors, it may be helpful to run a humidifier and open all the windows to air out spaces for a few days ahead of the showing. For pet owners with carpeted floors, hire a professional steam cleaning service to eliminate offensive odors and give new life to your carpet if replacing it isn’t an option.
Conduct a pre-listing inspection
For sellers, a pre-listing inspection provides an opportunity to get ahead of the results of a buyer-requested home inspection and negotiate the price or make repairs. The pre-listing home inspection will reveal repairs that need to be made, and sellers will be able to use this information to determine a price point in tandem with their realtor. This helps encourage more substantial offers.
The pre-listing home inspection will help eliminate any surprises that may come up during the process of selling your home. It will also position you to make the most informed decision about the right price to sell your home.
Hire a professional photographer
Professional photographs of your home are essential when attracting prospective buyers. Your real estate agent will have a network of people to call on to take the most polished and professional photos that will illustrate your home’s charm, beauty, and allure.
In an effort to use augmented marketing tools to reach wider audiences, your realtor may also suggest a video walkthrough and aerial photography. Many buyers begin their search for a new home online, and a video walkthrough along with striking photography can make your home stand out and give prospective buyers a clear sense of your home’s appeal.
Boost your home’s curb appeal
Don't underestimate the power of great curb appeal. In addition to pressure washing the exterior of your home and sprucing up the entryway, it’s important to zero in on details such as patching cracked concrete and fixing walkways to prevent tripping hazards.
Your home’s “wow” factor, however, will come from the curb appeal and projects to offer the best return on your investment. The highest ROI will come from basic yard care including healthy and trimmed grass, as well as weed control. Landscaping upgrades will also suffice and may include a new walkway, flower bed, shrubs, and so on. If you’re able to repaint the home’s exterior, consider doing so, as well as installing new garage doors if needed.
Looking to discover more about the beautiful community of Kirkwood and its neighboring communities? If you’re interested in selling or buying a home in Kirkwood, contact trusted St. Louis real estate expert, Michael Knoll, at [email protected] or call 314-884-8430.
You can also follow Mike on TikTok @mikeknollrealtor.
