Preparing your home for the 2023 Spring market
While CHicago may be in the middle of winter, it’s time to prepare your listing for the spring real estate market
Now that the holiday season is over, if you’re a seller putting your home on the market, or a Broker working on a new listing with a seller, these are our top 5 tips for getting ready to sell.
1. Tackle small home maintenance items
After the holidays, you may discover a list of projects you meant to get done but never got around to doing. Projects such as: repairing screens on windows, replacing or updating outlet covers, updating cabinet hardware or bathroom fixtures, cleaning or replacing worn and dirty carpeting, deep cleaning and making your bathroom feel brand new. Now is the time to walk through and check off these projects (and more) so you get top dollar!
2. Paint - One of your biggest ROI’s
Painting continues to be one of the biggest ROI’s when preparing to go on the market. Now is the time to update specific colors that suited your personal style, as well as repair any damages to walls from picture hanging or everyday scuffs and bumps.
We like these Benjamin Moore colors as our go-to’s
Walking into a home with very specific and dated colors will give a buyer the first impression of a large and potentially expensive project. Be sure to select warm, neutral colors that will have mass appeal for today’s buyer. Below is a recent project we completed as an example
3. Start packing
Let’s face it, you don’t realize how much you accumulated until you start preparing to move. Now is the time to start going through all of your items and determine if they are moving with you to your next home.
Closets, cupboards, and cabinets need to feel organized and spacious to a buyer. You will need to do this eventually once your home sells…start now! For homes where the toys have overtaken the space - now is also a good time to part ways with toys no longer being used.
Be sure to pay it forward when you can. Gently used items (both furniture and personal items) can be donated to organizations throughout your local area. We recommend Humble Design and Chicago Furniture Bank
4. Spring cleaning
Ok, so you have painted, packed and tackled those maintenance issues. Now is the time to deep clean your home from top to bottom and give those dust bunnies a new home! If you can, hire a professional cleaning service that can take this daunting project off your to-do list, and often accomplish this task in a day or less. Trust us, it will be worth it!
5. a staging consultation
You didn’t think we would leave this out, did you? At Signature Staging, we are here to help you organize and prioritize all of the above (and more).
With our comprehensive pre-market consultation, we will go room by room to help you determine what is going to get you the top ROI in preparing your home for market. As a result of this consultation, we can also provide:
Resources for contractors
Resources for professional organizers and movers
Ongoing staging consultation and staging services for photos
Peace of mind in knowing we are here to help you through this process
