Yes! You decided to sell your home and hired the best real estate agent in Brooklyn. You’re off to a fantastic start. Now it’s time to prepare your home to sell. But what does that mean exactly? Your agent, of course, can guide you through the process of selling your home, but here’s a great checklist to get you started.

12-Step Checklist to Prepare Your Home to Sell

It’s time to roll up your sleeves and get to work. If you think selling a home is as simple as planting a “For Sale” sign in your yard and uploading a few photos from your iPhone, think again. There’s a lot more to it but only if you want it to sell for the best price.

Use this checklist and a little bit of elbow grease to prepare your home to sell:

1. Hire the Best Real Estate Agent in Brooklyn

Check this one off. You’ve got it covered. But let’s talk about why working with a great real estate agent is such a great idea when selling a home.

Selling your home yourself, and pocketing the cash you would otherwise pay a real estate agent is appealing to many, especially when the market is hot. But a “for sale by owner” almost always leads to sacrificing both your money and your time. So resist the temptation and hire a real estate agent.

When you work with an agent who is knowledgeable about your specific market, and you’re comfortable working with them, you can trust them to sell your house for top dollar. And you’ll save yourself a lot of headache and time, too.

2. Make a Good First Impression

Take good care of every potential buyer’s first impression of your home with updated curb appeal. When your curb appeal is great, they’ll want to see more.

Most curb appeal efforts are relatively simple to do. But if you’re not sure what you should do, ask your real estate agent for advice.

3. Do a Clean Sweep

When it comes to preparing your home to show, less is more. And that simply means decluttering all flat surfaces. After doing a clean sweep of the visible areas, declutter your closets, drawers, and cupboards. Remember, curious buyers open closets, drawers, and cupboards when they walk through a home. Nothing is off limits.

Also,a decluttered house is appealing allowing potential buyers to see its roominess. So trash, donate, gift, and pack up your stuff to prepare your home to sell.

4. Remove “You” From Your Space

This ties in with decluttering in Step 3. Buyers need to be able to visualize themselves and their family living in the property and loving it, too. So remove your personal items, family photos, even some artwork and furniture that may not appeal to the general public.

5. Go Neutral

Play it safe. If you haven’t already gone neutral on the walls in your home, start painting. Neutral colors are safe. Bright or bold colors are bound to be somebody’s least favorite and will turn away  interest in your home.  

Besides, lighter colors allow potential buyers to imagine what colors they would enjoy having on the walls when they’re living in the home.

6. Scrub Scuff Marks

This step should be done before your house goes on the market and requires a bit of elbow grease. If you don’t need to paint your walls, at least scrub off any scuff marks you see. And touch up those that won’t scrub off.

When potential buyers tour your home, they want to see a house that is in good repair and move-in ready. They don’t want to see a long list of repairs that need to be done before they can fall in love with the house.

7. Avoid Negativity

Loose handles, missing lightbulbs or lightbulbs that need to be replaced, have a negative effect on buyers. Such disrepair causes doubt in a potential buyer’s mind about the home you’re selling. Fix the “little things” to let them know that your house will make them a great home.

8. Stage a Welcoming Environment

Green plants create a welcoming environment that impress buyers upon entering your home. And that’s a good thing! Beautiful flowers or a bowl of fruit on the kitchen counter or dining room table add a warm, homey touch.

9. Eliminate Smelly Deal Breakers

Unpleasant odors, no matter how foul, even the slightest ones, are deal breakers. And some of them you may not even notice.

To help with that, invite someone over to try to detect any bad odors for you. You may grow accustomed to pet smells or odors from last night’s dinner. But an unbiased nose can help you determine whether or not deep cleaning is in order.

10. Keep Everything Clean and Tidy

You want your property to look spotless. So, after you’ve cleaned your home, clean some more.

Imagine how your staged home would look in professional photos. That’s how you want your home looking, at its very best. Keep everything clean and tidy always, every time you leave it, looking its best for buyers coming to take a tour.

You never know when a buyer will schedule a last-minute tour. Always be prepared. Clean, clean, and clean some more.

11. Play it Safe

Hide your valuables, from art to jewelry. Lock them up, store them off-site, or at the very least, keep out of sight.

12. Invigorate with Staging

Nothing invigorates a house like staging it well. If your home furnishings or appliances scream 1980’s, seek help from a professional stager. Like a bold, orange wall, an out-dated home will not appeal to most potential buyers, no matter how nostalgic you are. 

A stager evaluates your home and your belongings. Then they determine and recommend what you must do to raise the bar. You might need to buy or rent some major pieces or purchase some baskets to stage an open shelf. Organizing your cleaning products on a laundry room closet shelf does wonders for your laundry space.

Trust your home stager. They know the real estate market and what sells. It’s their job to make your home appealing and interesting to potential buyers. 

Preparing to Sell is Simple

When you prepare your home to sell, the goal is to make potential buyers feel at home. With this checklist in hand, work through Steps 1 through 12 and impress lots of interested buyers.

Contact me, Charles D’Alessandro, your Brooklyn Real Estate Agent with Fillmore Real Estate. As a Brooklyn real estate agent and broker with over 30 years of experience, I can help you prepare your home to sell even during these challenging times.

Our office is completely shut down and committed to your safety during the COVID-19 health crisis in compliance with the State of New York public health policies. I can be reached by phone at (718) 253-9600 ext. 1901 or by email at [email protected].

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Charles D’Alessandro
Your Brooklyn Real Estate Agent
718-253-9600 ext. 1901

What comes to mind when you read the title, “How to Improve Your Life by Ridding Your Life of Stuff”?

As one year comes to an end and a new one begins, most of us inevitably ponder the following:

• Make resolutions
• Set goals
• Decide to live more simply and economically
• Get rid of stuff and organize what’s left

Truth be told, none of the above is very sexy. But every December and January we are challenged with how to improve our lives in one way or another. Let’s focus on the last point: Get rid of stuff and organize what’s left.

Improve Your Life by Ridding Yourself of Stuff

How is your life improved by getting rid of stuff?

Clutter causes frustration. When you get rid of stuff, you get rid of the frustration that goes hand-in-hand with it. And you make way for living peacefully and efficiently.

Have you ever felt a wave of anxiety hit you at the thought of someone stopping by unexpectedly? Keep sinks, flat surfaces, and floors free of unnecessary stuff, and say goodbye to anxiety whenever the doorbell rings.

Rediscover useful stuff you need and throw out or donate the rest. Not only will you avoid spending money unnecessarily by buying duplicates or triplets, but you’ll also improve the lives of others who truly need the stuff you don’t use.

Are you building more shelves and buying more boxes to put stuff in? If so, clutter has taken over! Getting rid of stuff saves money on storage and frees up space to enjoy.

Clutter also creates an unsafe environment. Accidents are more likely to occur when piles of stuff are everywhere. Stuff crammed on the top shelf of a closet can fall and land on your head. Piles stacked on the floor can cause you to trip and fall. Reduce the clutter and create a safer place to live in.

Sell unwanted, valuable belongings you aren’t using and make some money to pay a bill or finance a home project.   

How to Rid Yourself of Stuff That’s Taking Over

1. Start small. It’s easy to get overwhelmed and stop before you even get started. But if you pick one closet or area, declutter it completely before moving on to another space, you’ll be enjoying a clutter-free environment before you know it.

2. Make decisions quickly. Don’t overthink what to “Keep,” “Throw Out,” or “Donate.” Here’s a rule of thumb to help you decide what to keep: keep only the items you have used in the last three months and items that are heirlooms or keepsakes. Throw out or donate the rest.

3. Ask questions. With each item, ask yourself these questions:

• Do I still use this?
• Is this an heirloom or a keepsake?
• Is this in usable condition?
• Would someone else use this item?

Improve Your Life and Keep It That Way

The average household is overrun with unused belongings and stuff. Getting rid of stuff to improve your life is a time-consuming and tedious process. But once you’re rid of everything that doesn’t serve you and you’ve organized what does, a stress-free home environment is easy to maintain.

Is it time to improve your life with a new home? When you’re decluttered and organized, moving is a piece of cake. And when the time comes to sell your home, call me, Charles D’Alessandro, your Brooklyn Real Estate Agent with Fillmore Real Estate at (718) 253-9600 ext. 206 or email [email protected]. I’d love to help you find the perfect place to call home.

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Charles D’Alessandro
Your Brooklyn Real Estate Agent
718-253-9600 ext. 206

The year 2017 is history, and the New Year is well underway. (Time stops for no man, right?) But towards the end of the year, during the holidays, in particular, were you hiding stuff in closets or in the garage to keep guests from viewing your clutter? If you were, and you’re one who does New Year’s resolutions, getting organized may be on your list of goals to accomplish in 2018. A there’s no better time than right now to resolve to get organized! But it takes action to actually make a goal happen.

Why You Should Get Organized Now

Disorganization and being surrounded by clutter causes stress. Organization instills a sense of calm. It makes your life easier and more efficient. Think about how stressed you get when you can’t find something you need when you need it. Do you remember the time you couldn’t find your keys when it was time to leave to be on time for an appointment? What about the time when you couldn’t find that report you wrote for school which was due that day? Do you remember how it made you feel? During these times of panic, you produce stress hormones which escalate the situation causing inflammation, more stress, and memory loss. As you work to get organized, don’t be too hard on yourself. Organization takes work, and it takes time, but a stress-free life is a great reward for your efforts. Instead of wasting time and energy looking for things, you’ll be relaxing or being more productive.

How to Get Organized Now

Not everyone has the same amount or kinds of space to work with. And everyone has different ideas about what organization looks like or means to them. But there are basically five steps to take when you want to get organized. Before you take the first step, zero in on one small area of one room: a counter, a shelf, a drawer, a closet … you get the idea. Start small. Bring complete order to that one small area before you move on to another.

1. Purge

Begin to get organized with a good purge. Start off easy. Throw away worn or broken items. Then grab three boxes or make three piles: keep, toss, donate. Keep only what you need, use, and love. If you don’t need it, use it, or love it, why keep it? By the way, keeping something you don’t need, use, and love because it was a gift is not a valid reason to hang on to it.

2. Sort

Divide like things with like things in the small area you want to get organized. Put items together based on what they are and/or what they are used for. For example, a hammer, screwdriver, nails, and painting tape would all be grouped together, because they are all tools or hardware.

3. Make a Place

“A place for everything, and everything in its place.” Now that you’ve organized your stuff into categories and thrown away all of the unnecessary stuff, make a place for everything. Knowing how you want to use an area will help you make places for items that belong there and remove items that don’t.

4. Organize

Most people seem to love this step! Now that you’ve purged, sorted, and made a place for everything, it’s time to purchase containers (baskets, bins, boxes). It’s easier to determine the size and style of your containers now that you can see which items should be stored together.

For kids’ art projects, memorabilia, receipts, tax papers, and warranty information purchase accordion folders, photo boxes, or magazine organizers. When memento boxes become too full, it’s time to purge them.

5. Label

With everything in its place, you should begin labeling your containers. This step helps you and your family to know how to get organized and stay organized.

Enjoy Less Stress!

“Ahhhh! Now, this is home!” How much easier will it be to care for home and enjoy life once you get organized? Our nervous systems respond negatively to stressful circumstances caused by clutter and disorganization. So say goodbye to stuff that is taking up precious space in your home and say hello to stress-free living. Getting organized can be an overwhelming task, and life happens. But when you’re organized, the unpredictables life throws at us will be easier to deal with.

Get organized! And when you’re ready to sell, call Charles D’Alessandro, your Brooklyn Real Estate Agent with Fillmore Real Estate at (718) 253-9600 ext. 206 or email [email protected].

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 Charles D’Alessandro

Your Brooklyn Real Estate Agent

718-253-9600 ext. 206

[email protected]