How A Room Can Sell A home

How A Room Can Sell A Home
Original Content by Carl Johnson

Ever go to a friend's house or see photos of a home online and there is just one feature which stands out to you and you can’t get it out of your head? Oh that chandelier in the dining room made the whole space feel elegant! Wow, that waterfall island was stunning! The herringbone tile work for their bathroom was to die for! When selling a home, these same key features and rooms can be the ticket to getting your home sold and at a higher price too. 

At Carl Johnson Real Estate, we take the time to get to know you and your home before listing the property for sale. We find out your goals and how to achieve them. Oftentimes that means setting a home up for success from the start. We will walk through the home with you inside and outside, one room at a time to see how we can highlight each spot to the best of the home's strength. In this article we want to show you the importance of setting a home up the right way and how just a few key features can make a home shine!
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Dining Room
When listing a home, it is key to make the house a place buyers can see themselves in. If there is a formal dining room, this means making it welcoming and a place of togetherness. Show seating at the table, maybe stage some dishes around or a platter on the table, and have window fixtures open to let the light inside the space. If there is no formal dining room but still an eat-in area, again show seating but don’t over crowd it, keep the area decluttered and clean. 

Overall, a simple update to a light fixture can go a long way in a dining room to make it modern and a showstopper. If you want to do more or think the area needs an update, try fresh paint colors, new window fixtures, or just decluttering the space to make it somewhere people can visualize their own home.  ​

Kitchen
Everyone knows that the kitchen, no matter the house size or layout, becomes the heart of the home and where everyone gravitates to during a party or gathering. “According to a recent survey, 80% of homebuyers placed the kitchen in their list of top three most important spaces. And of buyers who bought homes without certain features, 69% of those surveyed said they would have paid more for new appliances, and 55% said they would have paid more for granite counters” (How Will Kitchen Remodeling Affect Your Home's Value? - Ramsey). This is why it is important to make sure a kitchen is not only presentable while listing it for sale, but if there is an opportunity to make it even better, go for it! 

If you want to think big with your kitchen, you can. Full kitchen remodels are proven to increase the value of your home, though they can be costly themselves. If you plan on living in the home for a while before selling it, then maybe a full renovation will make sense, you get to enjoy the kitchen as well as get monetary expenses back when you go to list. If this is the case, keep in mind what people look for in a renovated kitchen - high-end countertops, energy-efficient high-end appliances, pantry space if available, counter space, modern hardware, and light fixtures. See what works in your budget, your style, and your home, and blend it all together.

You can do a kitchen refresh on a smaller scale, too! Swap out the handles on your cabinets for something new. Keep your sink the same, but add a new modern faucet. Just replace one older appliance that needs it, but keep all of the others neat and clean. If you don’t have the budget to replace cabinets, many professional companies come in and can paint them for you quickly and easily without the mess. Change downlights to pendant lights. There are a lot of options when it comes to updating a kitchen. At the end of it all though, even if there is no time or budget to update the kitchen, make sure it is clean, organized, and smells good. This can have a great impact on the sale of the home. ​

​Primary Suite/Bath
If the home features a primary bedroom this is an opportunity to make the house shine. Buyers like to see spacious clean and bright spaces in a bedroom. If you have the chance to make all the bedrooms open and clear that's great, but you can take an extra step to make the primary room stand out. Think freshly bed made, deep cleaned carpeted floors or polished wood floors,, dust free or even new fan/overhead lights, organized closets, simple and decluttered night stands and dressers. You don’t need to have a giant primary bedroom but showing it in the right light will make it special.

If there is an ensuite to the primary making sure it is bright and clean (this goes for all other bathrooms in the house as well!) is a must! Take items off of the countertop, scrub the shower/tub and sink - make the room look and smell clean! A bathroom is also a spot buyers like to see that is new and updated. Similar to the kitchen, if you're able to renovate the primary bathroom as a benefit to your list price, but as always it is up to you on how much or little you want to do. Some popular items that show well are - a shower stall with a separate soaker tub, custom tile work throughout, high end countertops and cabinets, sinks that are easy to clean, large mirrors, storage closet, bright lights, and a separate toilet area. If you are looking for smaller updates consider - new light fixtures, new shower curtain and liner, updating hardware or sink, putting in a modern style mirror, doing a deep clean or hiring a company to come in to help do so. If you make sure all of the home's bathrooms are clean and fresh, that is a plus.

Bonus Spaces/Exterior

Any bonus spaces in the home are just that - an area you have to show off what sets your home apart from the rest! A finished basement, a home gym, a great outdoor patio, a garden, a covered garage, a large porch, even a loft space are all chances to make your home stand out on the market. Once again, taking the time to highlight any special areas can go a long way. I recommend that the exterior of the home be cleaned up and landscaped to the best of your abilities. Having a clean walkway, no cobwebs by the side door lights, or a cute little welcome mat helps to make a great first impression before any buyers even step into the house. If you have a patio and fire pit, throw some chairs around the area to show its potential to a buyer, and then they can visualize themselves enjoying it.  

If there are any features of your home you want to show off let us know - we’ve done full features as a part of our custom marketing that have included the local vegetation of a home our sellers have tended to over the years, the breakdown of a garden and it’s rain barre benefits, I’ll walk your property in a custom home tour video and show off your large fenced in backyard without breaking a sweat. Our job at Carl Johnson Real Estate is to get the best for you, our client, and we proudly work with you and your home to make you both shine! CLICK HERE to contact us today and learn more.  ​