Checklist for Selling Your Property

2 November 2020

1. Bring in the light #

Before showing, open up all the shutters and windows so the house feels light and airy upon entering. Not too much of a breeze but enough to get the stale odors out in the event you don’t live there full-time. If you have little natural light, make sure all the lights have bulbs (that work). Make sure to place a few lamps in corners to help activate dark shadows. Many agents showing homes arrive with their prospective buyers. This means, the shutters have not been opened and lights are not turned on. Have a deal with your agents - - make sure the place is bright.

2. Pay more attention to details #

Make sure doors, windows and shutters open and hang properly. Hardware needs to work. Use a little WD-40 if they are rusty. For drapery and shear curtains, make sure they look presentable. Seriously, this can affect the first impression. Why wait an opportunity for a great first impression? Walk through your front door as if you are visiting for the first time. What do you notice? Now, get to work and fix it.

A few other questions:

  • Do you have broken tiles that could be replaced or repaired?
  • Is there a broken window pane that needs to be replaced?
  • Do you have smoke stains around the chimney?
  • Is a faucet or toilet dripping? This costs you money now and will be a flag for potential buyers.

One last reminder: Clean out your closets of any unwanted items. And any items that remain organized in a clean fashion so the closet does not looked cramped.

3. Get the right smells #

Bad smells are the single biggest turn-off for prospective buyers. Don’t just cover them up, fix the source. Clear drains, wash bins, open windows, air the kitchen from old cooking smells, get rid of furniture that is embedded with cigarette smoke and wash any grimy bed sheets with a good smelling detergent.

Even if your place is beautifully decorated and located in the most ideal setting, bad smells will cause the buyer to offer less money. Here are a few helpful hints - -

  • If you are a smoker, place bowls of white vinegar around the house and leave out for three days. Though the vinegar will smell when you open the windows it will disappear quickly taking most of the stale cigarette smell out with it.
  • Conversely, good smells can make a property feel like an alluring home. While it might be impractical to bake fresh bread, cakes or brownies for every viewer that visits your home, you could perhaps put on a pot of apples flavored with cinnamon or have a kettle of water with vanilla. Try my favorite, lavender essence oil. It is easy to just shake a few drops at the entrance of the house, the door of the bathroom or wherever odors might originate. Not too much but just enough to create a feeling of relaxation and peace when someone is walking through your property.
  • Keep odor absorbent in closets and bathrooms so that the mildew and septic odors that sit in an unoccupied flat disappear.

4. Clean up the calc #

Make sure you or a helpmate cleans the shower stall, any windows in the bathroom or kitchen and all stainless steel faucets with a good calc cleaner. Keep a large bottle of white vinegar with a box of baking soda and pour this into your toilets before closing up your place for the season. This helps keep build-up down when the place is unoccupied. Mallorca has VERY hard water. Mineral deposits are normal but unsightly. Try to minimize them as much as possible.

5. Nurture gardens and areas with natural vegetation around the property #

The heat of the summer parches the best gardens unless you have a good irrigation system and keep them properly hydrated. By August, most buyers prefer to stay on the beach or on a breezy terrace to avoid the extreme afternoon temperatures that bake the island. This isn’t all bad as you may have a property let or family and friends have asked for slots on your calendar. If you are selling your house in winter, try to have fresh flowers at the entrance of your home. What a warm welcome for the potential new owners.

6. Make the place feel alive #

Take the extra time to care for your property. If you are not living on the island and have listed your property online, find someone who can help you open the place, air it out and make sure the toilets have flushed, the calcium build-up is gone and the place feels alive. There are always people would love to do this to earn a little extra spending money. If you want a referral, we are happy to recommend someone. Just drop us a line at [email protected] and let us know where your property is located on the island.

7. A little extra attention #

If possible, have a vase of fresh flowers near the entrance. This is a warm greeting for a potential buyer and sets the tone mentally for the buyer to appreciate the property more as a home than just a house or apartment. When someone has been captured emotionally, they are more inclined to try to sort out the details in buying a property.

AM Reminder: The goal is to sell your property for your asking price.

2 November, 2020

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