Getting your home ready to sell in Decatur GA and don’t know where to begin? This series of blog posts will give you the tips you’ll need to have a picture perfect house to sell. The house needs to be ready in order to get it sold in the shortest amount of time and for the highest dollar.
Let’s start with the kitchen, which is a really important selling feature in a home. First, get everything off the counters, even the toaster. Put the toaster in a cabinet and take it out when you use it. Find a place where you can store everything in cabinets and drawers. Of course, you may notice that you do not have cabinet space to put everything. Clean them out. The dishes, pots and pans that rarely get used? Put them in a box and put that box in storage. If you have stuff that you haven’t used in years, donate it. Really, how many cookie sheets will you ever use at once? 
Home buyers will open all your cabinets and drawers, especially in the kitchen. They want to be sure there is enough room for their stuff. If your kitchen cabinets, pantries, and drawers look jammed full, it sends a negative message to the buyer and does not promote an image of plentiful storage space. The best way to do that is to have as much empty space as possible.
If you have a junk drawer, get rid of the junk Do this with every cabinet and drawer. Do one drawer at a time so it’s not so overwhelming. Create open space.
If you have a large amount of food items crammed into the shelves or pantry, begin using them – especially canned goods. Canned goods are heavy and you don’t want to be lugging them to a new house, anyway – or paying a mover to do it. Let what you have on the shelves determine your menus and use up as much as you can. It might be time to get creative!
Beneath the sink is very important too. Make sure the area beneath the sink is as empty as possible, removing all extra cleaning supplies. There might be stuff you forgot about under there. You should scrub the area down as well, and determine if there are any tell-tale signs of water leaks that may cause a home buyer to hesitate in buying your home. This should go without saying, but if you have a leak, even a little one, it needs to be fixed, now. Deferring maintenance does not help to sell homes.
Once you’ve de-cluttered, it’s time for a deep cleaning, including polishing the cabinet doors and making them shine. The refrigerator needs to be clean too. I don’t know why but home buyers seem to like to see what’s in the fridge. They’ll open the door. Make sure it’s clean inside and out. It can stay cleaner by wiping the containers before you put them back in the fridge. I always wipe down the bottom of the milk jug when I bring it home from the store and before putting it away. It can be really dirty!
Now that the kitchen is done, stay tuned for the next post in this series of Getting your Home Ready to Sell!
If you are thinking of buying or selling a home in or around Decatur, GA contact local expert and Realtor Jen Bowman, Broker Associate & e-PRO with Success Realty at 404-456-5024.
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Hi Jen: great advice - thanks for sharing it with us.
:)
Jen - You are right on the money when you describe how buyers move through the kitchen. And, your staging tips emphasize simple ways that sellers can help themselves out. I look forward to reading more in this series.
Having a home that shows well is so important in a challenging Real Estate market. Any edge you can have over your competition is important!
Matt, Erik and Bill, thanks for your comments. I was showing homes today and one of the first things my buyer did when we went into the kitchen was to open the cabinets and the pantry.