This doesn’t mean your home needs expensive renovations. Clever Real Estate recommends that sellers focus on repairs with the highest return on investment, such as garage doors, front doors and minor kitchen remodels or updates.
Dirty carpets or broken floors
Potential buyers can be put off by dirty carpets and broken floors. Fortunately, fixing this is relatively inexpensive. According to Angie’s List, the average cost to repair a carpet is $207. This quick fix can go a long way in your staging process.
Pets
Pet owners might appreciate signs that your home is big and comfortable enough for a pet, but not every prospective buyer fits this description. Some don’t like cats and dogs or have allergies.
Serhant advises putting away your pet’s food bowls and “if you have a 65-pound dog, maybe take the dog for a little walk so your person can come in and not see it without any kind of prejudice or allergies,” he added.
Overpowering scents
It’s tempting to make your home smell welcoming and pleasant, but it’s difficult to know if your potential buyers are sensitive to any odors. The safest option is to aim for a mild or neutral scent that doesn’t distract the viewer.
Excess furniture
Most home listings don’t include the furniture, so minimizing the number of items you leave behind in your listing is probably a good idea. You can work with a professional stager to rearrange or move furniture to make it more appealing for viewers.
Bold paint colors
Just like personal photos, bold and vivid colors are a reflection of your personality and are likely to be distracting for any potential buyer. White is a safer option.
“You want to project like an open canvas,” Serhant says. “You want your buyer to walk through and imagine themselves living there, and you want them to say, ‘Oh, I love these white walls, I could see how my own Star Wars-themed wall would look here.’"
Vishesh Raisinghani is a financial journalist covering personal finance, investing and the global economy. He's also the founder of Sharpe Ascension Inc., a content marketing agency focused on investment firms. His work has appeared in Moneywise, Yahoo Finance!, Motley Fool, Seeking Alpha, Mergers & Acquisitions Magazine and Piggybank.
