You have decided to Sell your Home, now what do you do???
If the title of this post caught your attention and is an accurate reality for you, you obviously didn’t call me to sell your home, so please stop reading now and call me. If you have someone else selling your home, stop reading and call your agent for advice. I am only kidding, keep reading. Karma and I are close and she’ll get you 
Tip 1: Get out the trash bags and donation bins and purge your house like a Priest performing an exorcism. You can never get rid of too much and the cost of moving your “stuff” when you sell your home will be expensive and wasteful. If you haven’t used it since you moved into the home 7 years ago, you probably won’t use it at your new home.
Donate!! Get the tax write offs from the 501(c)3 non profits and their tax id, they are happy to give you a receipt for the items. Most of the organizations will even pick up the items for you. You are also helping the community by donating gently used items to be resold to a struggling family or individual looking to buy the item at a deep discount. It is a win-win for everyone! Remember, you still live there and you are allowed to have your belongings. Just keep the clutter at a minimum.
Tip 2: Have your Real Estate professional do a thorough walk through with you at the home. Their expert eyes and nose can detect and address any possible issues with the property before you list the house. Some agents like to do a pre-home inspection with their home inspectors. I do not usually recommend that...
I really try my hardest not to be judgmental on my first impression with people I meet for the first time. So I try even harder not to judge homes from my first impression when pulling into the driveway, maybe if the exterior isn’t taken care of, the owner put all the care into the interior!!?? That being said, I am an incredible judge of character and know, no matter how hard I want to believe, the house is going to be way worse on the inside if the outside looks like
it was neglected. I promise, I tried to be open minded but have always been disappointed and my internal judgement always wins.
I literally am pulling into at least 20 strangers driveways a week, usually more. I always have an appointment and not creeping, so now, you don’t be judging me! I will share a couple, very simple, almost free in expense, tips on how to get your house ready for judgmental strangers, like myself.
1.Get the spider webs and pollen off the front porch/entry way!!!!
Take your hose, turn it on and spray off the entry way and walk way. It will cost you almost nothing and take about 5 minutes, at most. The impact is a game changer to someone walking up to your home who has horrible Spring allergies and hates bugs. It also looks like you care about the people who don’t have a garage door opener and can pull into safety from the outside world. I have a pressure washer you are welcome to borrow if you need it. Just don’t let me walk into a spider web while entering your home.
2. Take care of your mailbox and put the address numbers clear to see...
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We all know the scene in the movies... The Realtor taking fresh baked chocolate chip cookies out of the oven and wearing a cute little apron and a big satisfactory smile on her face. You can almost imagine the sweet smell 
and taste of cold milk touching your lips. Hollywood has made this seem like the norm. Guess what? Movies are fake, I live in Hampton Roads and live a real life. In my LONG experience holding open houses, potential clients don’t want your food, especially the past 2 years with COVID. I have spent so much money and time, in my early real estate days creating the ‘Hollywood’ movie scene. I wanted everything to be perfect, the smell of the food, the perfect flowers and no one cared, ever. I only ended up gaining weight eating all the cookies while cleaning up.
I have found people feel really weird taking food from strangers, especially the ones actually interested in the property. That is how I could tell a ‘Nosy Neighbor’ or ‘Looking Lucy’ or ‘Sunday Driver Sam’ from the serious buyer. The serious buyer doesn’t want to feel like they have less power over negotiations because they accepted my baked goods and are now indebted to me. No problem, I have a better solution.
No one has an issue with winning prizes and taking useful products for them to use daily so I always will have my #iSell757 water bottles, hats, toys for the 
kids and gift cards to be raffled off at the end of the open house ready for anyone and everyone. Attendance is never required...
