Having your home up for sale isn’t fun.
Beyond the fact that it is a stressful time because you’ll probably be under some time constraints to get your home sold, you not only have to keep it showroom ready 24/7, you also have to vacate the premises each time someone wants to do a walk through.
Like we said, not fun.
So we are often asked what things we can suggest to help sell a home faster.
While there are any number of suggestions we could make, one big thing we encourage everyone to do is brighten their home.
From our experience, the number one thing buyers care about is location (as they say, location, location, location). It will always be the number one thing people focus on.
After location however, natural light or brightness is one of the most popular things people look for. People will quickly comment on a home with “lots of natural light”.
Simply put, a brighter home always shows better and if you want to sell your home faster, brightening your home will definitely help.
When a home is dark or casts too many shadows it often leaves a negative, cluttered and even a depressing impression.
When we explain this to home sellers their immediate response is, “so we should buy brighter light bulbs?”.
While increasing the light bulb wattage is a great start and should be done, we don’t stop there.
Here are some more tips that can help…
- Add a few well placed lamps. Be wary of overdoing it, but find a spot in the room that seems to be darker and try to find a way to naturally incorporate extra lighting there.
- Pull back the drapes. Perhaps an even better suggestion is to replace any and all heavy or dark drapes with white sheer drapes.
- Give all the windows in your home a good scrubbing a good cleaning (both inside and out).
- Next head outside and trim back any shrubs and even tree branches that cast shade and obstruct any natural light into your home. Make sure to take into consideration the angle of the sun at different times of the day and how remaining shrubs/ branches will impact the light in your home.
- Then as a secondary option you could add some outdoor lighting. Often prospective home buyers will look at homes several times including at night. If your homes outside is well illuminated that is a major plus.
- Next if you have the time and inclination, repaint your walls. Stick with bright and neutral colors to enhance the bright, open and airy feeling of your home.
Finally declutter, declutter and then when you are done with that, declutter again. Beyond the fact that too many nic-nacs, mementos and personal items make it harder for others to envision YOUR home becoming THEIR home, objects create shadows and take up space. Both of which reduce the natural light in your home.
So there you have it! Good luck and happy brightening!
