My Advice to Home Owners | Our House Hunt

So we have been looking at houses for going on 2 years now.

Yup... two years of going into stranger's homes and seeing if it's something we could live in.

Now, to be fair, only about 3-4 months has been hardcore home searching. But still we have been internet scoping and threshold crossing now for 2 years of our life.

To say we do not like house hunting is an understatement of the largest magnitude... but necessary evils, ya'll.

Before I get in to my top 10 tips for selling your home I want to put this out there:

I am not an expert in Real Estate. I am not an agent, I am not a home-buying counselor, I am not a broker. I am just some lady with a blog who has been in too many homes to count and would like to share her small bit of of advice from personal experience (that's right all of these are from first-hand experience!)  to help those out there planning to or in the midst of selling their homes.

If you are looking for professional advice, call a professional :) 

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So without further ado: 

The Top Ten Do's and Don't's for Selling Your Home

1. Know your home. Take pride in your home but don't be friggin' crazy out of your mind about the value of your home. I know you love it. I know you've lived there for 20 years and that your kid's milestones are etched into the kitchen wall. I know your memories are priceless. But to me (the buyer) they have a price... and it's gonna be market value or close to it. Setting unrealistic expectations of house pricing just frustrates me and when I have to wait 3 months for your house to sit long enough for you to come to your senses on pricing... I'm now annoyed and almost don't want to buy your house out of spite.

Sorry... I started with an embittered personal one. Yikes! The rest won't be so harsh, I promise!

2. Replace burnt-out light bulbs. It's an easy fix. It's a cheap fix! And you know what... when I turn the lights on I most likely won't notice. I won't likely comment to my husband "Oh look, all the lights work". But if you don't... if I go into the bathroom and turn on the lights and only 2/5 of the vanity lights turn on I WILL notice. I will be annoyed and I will wonder what else you didn't care enough about to fix in order to sell your house.

Free house tip from my electrician husband: Lighting is one of the easiest and cheapest updates you can make to your home! So if you have a few outdated light fixtures (like in the kitchen, dining room or bathrooms) go ahead and update those puppies to really improve the look of a room! 

3. Wood Paneling, brown shag-like carpet and yellow counter tops do not a "vintage charmer" make.

4. Take good photos. Oh my, please take good photos. I mean I'll even settle for decent photos! Your photos should inspire me to come see your house in person! Photos of your toilet, (just the toilet... not the toilet amidst the bathroom but just the toilet) your cluttered kitchen counters, the corner (and only the corner) of a room, and 20 individual photos of every species of plant life on your property are not doing the trick.

5. Open Houses, more times than not, are planned in advance. You know about them. You advertise them. You plan for them. So maybe... when you have one... clean up? I mean... just a thought. Don't leave dishes in the sink, laundry all over the floor, beds un-made, the bathroom in disarray and trash / junk / who-knows-what strewn over every floor. I will not buy your house. I will most likely not even take the time to see your house because I fear what might crawl out from under that pile of trash and eat me. 

6. Staging can be very effective. But if you can't do it at least with full-furniture (as in... with normal furniture filling the room as one would expect to find in a lived-in home) please don't. A dirty, broken, old ottoman sitting alone in an empty living room with a tray holding an empty bottle of champagne and two miss-matched wine glasses is not showing me what it's like to live in the house.

7. Flush the toilet. Just do it.

I will add... my sister told me that I need to have more grace in this area! She can imagine wrangling up her 4 children to get out the door before a house-showing arrives and one little kiddo pooed and didn't flush. I get it! Kids make this harder. But that's why this is a TIP! Double check after all the kids are out! :) easy peasy, right? 

8. Speaking of leaving. Do it. I don't need a tour from you that explains each detail of the home, I don't want your explanation of things, I don't want you following me around and peeking at me while I open your closet, I definitely do not want a plate of the fajitas you are cooking on the stove (but thanks for the offer?) I want to be able to walk through your home and not remember that you live in it. I want to be able to talk with my realtor and husband about how I am going to rip out all of that ugly pink tile without you overhearing and getting your feelings hurt.

9.  The smell of paint or the smell of a glade plug-in is not to your benefit. It makes me wonder what you are trying to hide with newly laid paint or some sort of cheap masking smell. I have now lost trust in you and your home and will be doing some fine-tooth-comb investigating.

10. We, the home-buyers, don't personally mind that you have a dog. We don't mind that your dog lives inside. We don't mind that the house smells a little like dog (though it's not awesome... we could probably fix it) but what is a bit irksome is when we step in a pile of dog poop... in the middle of your living room. Minor, I know but... maybe just check and be sure your dog didn't poop like.. in the house. 


There you have it. In the spirit of sharing what I have learned. 

"Wisdom is the reward of experience and should be shared" 

And that's all I'm gonna say about that.