Staging Your House to Sell Now or in the Spring

Although we are in the midst of winter, the

time to start preparing your home for sale in

the spring is now.

This is because properly preparing and staging

your home so that it will sell at its highest

value possible

takes time. With spring only a few months away,

you cannot afford to waste any time getting

your home

ready so that it has a jump on the marketplace.

Another reason you want to start plans on

selling now is that the inventory of homes real

estate agents

have in winter is generally quite low. Smart

sellers can take advantage of this time period

so that real

estate agencies can focus more attention of

their property before the rush of homes for

sale begins in the

spring.

What follows is a few simple, but very

important steps to help make sure that your

home is ready for sale

and looking its best when spring arrives.

Preparing Your Home

The earlier you start, the better you can

properly prepare your home for sale. You will

want to plan a

proper schedule to make sure that everything is

completed on time.

Inspection & Assessment: You should begin by

taking a personal inspection of your home to

spot

anything obvious that might be a sticking point

in selling your home. This means fixing any

cracks,

addressing any structural or foundation issues,

and replacing anything that otherwise might

damper the

value of your home.

Once you have made a personal inspection, hire

a professional home inspector to see if

anything else

needs to be addressed. You can do this either

before or after you fix the obvious needs of

your home. A

home inspector can provide valuable insight

into what really affects the value of your

home. You will need

to do this before the home is assessed.

Clean & Prepare: While most people wait until

spring to do their cleaning, you should clean

your home

thoroughly, removing the clutter and such

before spring arrives. Total Home Professionals
of Chicago Illinois is well known for posting valuable information
on their website at http://www.thp123.com You can also learn more
at http://www.YouTube.com/watch?v=VrBsUFdmcwM
A clean home invites

buyers in and

presents your property in the best light

possible.

Kitchen & Bathroom: Most real estate agents

will tell you that the kitchen and bathroom are

the two rooms

that will make the most powerful impression on

potential buyers. In particular, the floors,

walls and overall

general appearance must be clean and seemingly

new. This is a good time to consider remodeling

both

rooms as such work can add a considerable

amount of value to the price of your home.

The Benefits of Remodeling Your Home for Sale

Besides improving the value of your home for

selling purposes, there are other advantages to

renovating

your home during the winter. Renovating your

kitchen and bathroom generally offer the

greatest

return, often up to 125% in terms of increasing

the value of your home. However, such values

will vary

depending on where you live and what

renovations need to be performed.

Such preparations during the winter can then

pay even bigger dividends in the spring.

Lower Renovation Costs: Because home building

materials are priced quite low during this time

and

renovation companies often run short of work.

This means that you can have rooms that need

renovation

completed at less cost when demand is low.

Tax Breaks: There are certain tax breaks you

can earn for adding certain improvements to

your home.

For example, there are certain renovations that

qualify as medical improvements such as adding

entrance

or exit ramps, modifying the bathroom, adding

handrails, lowering cabinets and widening

doorways and

hallways to allow greater access.

Plus, there are those that save or generate

electricity such as the following;

- Geothermal Heat Pumps

- Small Wind Turbines

- Solar Panels

- Solar Water Heaters

Any one of these additions can create a one-

time 30% Federal tax break which includes labor