Real estate professionals are quite consistent in maintaining that the autumn is the second best time of the year to sell your home. Home sales do tend to peak during the summer months for a host of reasons, including the weather and the fact that children are out of school.
If you want to obtain an edge when you put your home on the market in the fall, there are six tips and tactics that you will want to consider employing.
Get your lawn and garden into shape
As you enter the fall months, you’ve reached a point in time when you naturally should be tending to your lawn and garden following the summertime. As a prelude to putting your home on the market, you need to make sure that your lawn and garden are in great shape.
Summer can kick up a lot of dust, causing wear and tear on some of your home’s exterior, so make sure to power wash your fencing, façade, and pathways.
The process of getting your lawn and garden looking their best for the fall and for prospective buyers includes making sure the yard is thoroughly raked regularly. Consider having plants in your garden that bloom in the fall, mums being a prime type of bloom.
Give your curb appeal some fall flair
When preparing to put your home on the market in the autumn, think about adding a bit of fall flair to the front of your residence. Taking this approach will enhance the curb appeal by providing some truly eye-catching, pleasant points for a prospective home buyer
You need not go overboard in this regard. You can take simple steps like adding a lovey autumn wreath to the front door. You can add planters containing fall-blooming flowers as well.
Spruce up the windows
Make sure your windows are completely clean in advance of showing your home. This is particularly important if you have furry family members who favor spending time at the windows. You might also want to consider adding a dash of the season at the windows themselves. For example, depending on the design of your windows and available ledge space (inside and out), you might want to add decorative touches to celebrate the fall.
Check the HVAC system
As a matter of practice, you should have your residential HVAC system inspected and cleaned twice a year. Undertaking this task in the spring and fall is good timing, as these seasons often precede extreme temperatures.
If you intend to sell your home, you definitely want to make sure your HVAC system is operating correctly and that it is cleaned. This includes replacing filters and cleaning HVAC grates and grills inside the home.
Illuminate, illuminate, illuminate
Even if your home is well lit by natural light during the summer months, you are not likely to have as strong of this type of lighting as the fall months roll around. Thus, when you are having an open house or showing the residence to a prospective buyer, you need to make certain that the home is well illuminated.
Many real estate professionals suggest turning on nearly all lights within the home, including in the closets, before prospective buyers arrive for a tour.
There are some other “little touches” that you will want to contemplate using when you put your home on the market in the fall. These include:
- Autumn Edibles: Place seasonal food items about the house. These can include a bowl of apples or a tray of pumpkin cupcakes. Consider having hot apple cider simmering on the stove. Offer these goodies to your visitors.
- Autumn Accessories: Take advantage of autumn-colored or autumn-themed accessories. For example, place an autumn-colored throw across a chair; place autumn-colored pillows on a sofa.
Clean the fireplace
Many a house hunter will have fireplaces in mind as the fall arrives. In other words, perhaps more than at any other time of year, a prospective home buyer will have a heightened interest in finding a home with a great fireplace as cooler days approach.
You need to make sure that your fireplace is fully operational and clean before you list the property for sale in the autumn. If you face a particular cold day whilst your home is on the market in the fall, you might want to consider having a fire burning when prospective buyers come calling
