If you are preparing to sell your Kapalua home, Kaanapali condo, or any other home on Maui, you want your property to looks its best to attract the best buyers, as quickly as possible. One of the key ingredients to garnering a good reception when selling your property is a clean, friendly, and not least of which inviting, home to greet prospective buyers with.
Here’s a few tips to make your Maui home for sale a bit more attractive to those looking to buy (your) property in Maui:
1. Get rid of the clutter!
The number one action you can take to make your home more salable is to rid it of the many items you have acquired over the years. You want buyers to visualize a prospective home as being their own the house decorated to their taste. Therefore you want to remove personal items such as family photos, as well as everyday items; clothing, toys, small appliances, curtains, etc., from view when showing your home. Doing so will stimulate a buyers mind to imagine these open spaces filled with the items which will make it their home.
2. Pay attention to the details.
Look for small things around the house which you could use a good repair job. Cabinets missing a knob, dead light bulbs, a cracked light switch cover; these small details can send a big message to prospective buyers: “If these small bits are broken, what else could be wrong with this place???” You want to remove any doubt that your home had not been taken care of before being put on market; fixing the small stuff will greatly help to accomplish this.
3. Consider a new coat of paint.
Our home is our castle, one which we decorate with our taste in mind. However, wonderful as that bright yellow and lilac bedroom may look when you wake up every morning, not everyone will share your home color preferences. therefore, it is a good idea to consider repainting rooms in a generally neutral color, such as a creamy off white, to maximize buyer comfort when touring your home. In addition, consider painting important parts of your home’s exterior a bright, inviting color. Pay attention to your front door in particular, as it is all important gateway leading into your magnificent castle.
4. Clean up the yard.
A little landscaping goes a long way when selling your house. A manicured lawn, clean, weed free walkway, and a few nice accent plantings, along with a fresh coat of paint, massively increase the “curb appeal” of any home. These will be the very first items a prospective buyer will see when arriving at your house, so make a great first impression!
5. Make your home smell good, but not overbearingly so.
As with colors, ones sense of smell varies widely from person to person. While it is always a good idea to remove any commonly offensive odors, such as an unclean litter box, weighing down the air inside of your home with an overabundance of air fresheners and other “pleasant” scents can have the same effect on a prospective buyer as the odor from a litter box. Not only are some “freshening” scents unpleasant to some peoples sense of smell, but a large amount of such odors could cause your potential buyers to question if you are trying to cover up something repugnant in your home.
6. Prepare to spend a few dollars.
When selling your home in Maui, it’s always a good idea to set aside a bit of money to fund things such as professional carpet cleaners, landscapers, house painters, home stagers, and a storage unit or two, among other things. While there are many things you can do yourself to make your property more attractive to home buyers, sometimes it best to let a professional with experience in a given area do the work for you; particularly if you are trying to get your home sold ASAP.
7. Consult a professional.
This goes hand in hand with the above tip: when selling your home ask your Realtor what they suggest would be best to have your home sold as quickly as possible. After all, a good agent will have experience and knowledge of the current market and types of buyers whom your home will likely appeal to, with advice on targeting this market to effectively sell your home in as little time as possible.
These are just a few tips to consider when readying your Maui home for sale. For more insight on creating an inviting environment in your home for sale in Maui, watch the latest episode of Betty’s Real Estate Corner, and give our team of Luxury Maui Property Specialists a call at (808) 669-0070 to set up a meeting for a more in depth advice on marketing your Maui home for sale.
