5 Great Pieces of Advice for Home-Sellers

If you’re selling your home in Aspen, your REALTOR® will be there with you every step of the way – but check out these five great pieces of advice your agent will probably give you.

Some of the best home-selling advice comes directly from the pros, so here are our five favorite tips:

Keep your home spotless when it’s on the market
Use live plants in staging
Take down personalized decor
Remove clutter (don’t hide it)
Take your pets with you when you leave for a showing

Scroll down for a closer look at each.

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Home-Selling Advice Tip #1: Keep Your Home Spotless When It’s on the Market

It’s hard to keep your house showing-ready while it’s on the market, but it’s well-worth the effort. When prospective buyers come in for a tour, they want to see that the space is clean. But keeping things tidy serves another purpose, too: It gives buyers the impression that your home is easy to maintain (even if you feel like it’s not) and that you’re invested enough in it to take good care of it. Even if buyers don’t verbalize it, they’ll walk away with a more favorable impression of your home if they feel it’s immaculately clean. (And that means they’re more likely to make an offer.)
Related: What to do if a buyer wants to negotiate

Home-Selling Advice Tip #2: Use Live Plants in Staging

Live plants make spaces feel more welcoming, so using them in staging is a great idea. You don’t want to overdo it – you’re not selling a greenhouse – but you do want one or two live plants in each room where it’s feasible. Some of the best plants to use in staging include the peace lily, mother-in-law’s tongue and orchids. Of those three, orchids are the toughest to care for (so if you don’t have a particularly green thumb, you may want to stick with plants that are easier to maintain).

Home-Selling Advice Tip #3: Take Down Personalized Decor

Prospective buyers want to envision themselves living in your space, but that’s hard to do when you have personalized decor everywhere. Take down family photos, kitschy sayings and items that are specific to you and yours (like sports memorabilia, religious items and political pieces) and replace them with more neutral decor. The idea is to make your home look more like a model home.
Related: What happens if your home appraisal comes back low?

Home-Selling Advice Tip #4: Remove Clutter (Don’t Hide It)

Buyers need to see your home’s potential, but they can’t do that very well if there’s clutter in the way. Remove all the clutter from your home, including furniture that interrupts clear walking paths or that’s too big for the space it’s in. You don’t have to get rid of these large items, but you should find them a new place to stay while your home is on the market.
In addition to furniture, remove any items you haven’t used in six months or more. Again, you don’t have to get rid of them – but you should remove them from your home until you move.

Home-Selling Advice Tip #5: Take Your Pets With You When You Leave for a Showing

Always take your pets with you when you leave for a showing. Obviously, you can leave fish and other animals it’s not sensible to take with you, such as pet hamsters – but anything that normally walks around the house when you’re not there should go with you when you leave. There are a few reasons for this; most notably, some people simply don’t like animals and don’t want to buy a home where an animal lives. In other cases, people are afraid or allergic to pets. But that’s not the worst-case scenario: Your pet could make a mad dash for the door (many real estate agents leave the front door open during showings for safety reasons), or worse, bite or scratch a stranger in their territory.
Related: The 7 most common showing mistakes sellers make

Are You Selling or Buying a Home in Aspen?

If you’re ready to sell your home in Aspen, Woody Creek, Basalt, Carbondale or Snowmass, we may be able to help you.
Get in touch with us right now to find out how much your home is worth – and discover how we’ll be able to help you sell it quickly and for top dollar.
If you’re also looking for a home for sale in Aspen or a nearby community, check out our listings by price in the table below.