Selling your home this spring? A Starter To-Do List.

Invest in Buyers’ Favorite: Exterior Lighting
Are you planning to sell your home this spring? Start preparing now! Here are some suggestions to get you started:

Have Your Home Pre-Inspected by a Professional Home Inspector
One of the most common reasons a home sale falls apart (or the closing is delayed) is problems uncovered during the home inspection. Typically, price negotiations will reopen, but if the problems are beyond the buyer’s budget, they may just walk away from the deal.

If you have your home pre-inspected now, you will have the advantage of avoiding unpleasant surprises in the middle of the transaction. Plus, you’ll have the rest of winter to get repair projects out of the way. 

Get a Head Start on Curb Appeal
Most landscaping tasks will have to wait until spring, but if you have inside space and a sunny window, you can get a head start by growing your own flowers from seed. Just wait until after the last frost to plant them outside.

You can also consider touching-up any chipped paint on doors and trim, creating an outdoor seating area, or updating your front door hardware. Replacing a worn mailbox, installing new house numbers, and purchasing a new front porch doormat are more great ways to spruce up your curb appeal.

Declutter & Donate
If your home is overwhelmed with personal items, has closets bursting at the seams, and furniture blocking the flow, there is a clutter problem. Clutter sends the message to a potential buyer that your home lacks space and ample storage. Start the process now to rid your home of furniture, housewares, clothing, books, and papers that are no longer of use. It’s a win-win: you will have less to move and it will help sell your home. 

Invest in Buyers’ Favorite Features
The National Association of Home Builders surveyed prospective home buyers and learned that the top two desired features in a home are a laundry room and exterior lighting. How to get started? For your laundry room (or nook or closet), take this opportunity to add function. Consider adding a shelf, storage cabinet, or a wall-mounted drying rack.

As your luck would have it, wireless lighting has come a long way thanks to advancements in power and power storage technologies. Does your home have a path that could some extra visibility? A side yard that could use a motion sensor light? Shine some light on those darker areas to delight prospective buyers.