You’ve decided to move into a new home in St. George. But there’s one problem: You can’t seem to get your current home to sell. If you’re struggling to get offers on your home, it might have to do with your walkthrough presentation. Here are the top 8 things you can fix that might be keeping your home from selling:

Too Much Personality

You’ve put a lot of effort into personalizing your home so that every last bit has you written all over it and that’s great – for you. But for potential buyers, it can be a turn off. People who come to see your home need to be able to visualize themselves living in it and that can be difficult to do if they don’t share your enthusiasm for leopard print throw pillows or bright green curtains. Doing your best to neutralize your space can go a long way in appealing to potential buyers. You may even want to go so far as to repaint walls if you have too much vibrant color going on. And it goes without saying that you should remove family pictures and other such personal items from view as well.

Let in the Light

We sometimes don’t realize what a powerful role light plays in how we perceive the things around us. With the shades pulled closed, a room can feel small and dismal, yet the same room can seem vastly more appealing with the shades open and light filtering in. Keep window blinds open and change out dim lightbulbs so that visitors who walk through your home get to see it in the best light possible.

Curb Appeal

Some homes can be doomed in the eye of a buyer before they’ve even set foot inside. Even if you’ve touched up your interior to near perfection, an unappealing exterior can sink the deal. Make sure you’re maintaining your yard – pull weeds, trim hedges, sweep walkways. You may even want to consider repainting your exterior to make the best possible impression.

Cluttered Closets

In an effort to keep rooms clean and tidy, you might be throwing things in closets and jamming them full. But this organizational technique might be doing you more harm than good. Adequate storage space can be a top concern for some buyers. As they analyze your house, they might think full and disorganized closets mean there is not enough storage space. Remove what you can from your closets – off season items, things that can be packed up for the move, things that can be tossed away – and then organize them so they seem neat, orderly and convenient to use.

Repair and Renovate

It can seem like a pain to repair a home you’re not inclined to stay in, but it can raise the value and make a better impression on buyers. Remember to think like a buyer as you look for things that need fixing. The little quirks that you live with – such as squeaky doors and leaky faucets – will seem like much bigger drawbacks to potential buyers. Going a step above simple repairs and doing a little renovating can be a big help too. Updating fixtures in your kitchen or your bathroom for instance, can make a home feel newer and more valuable.

Importance of Smell

Smells make a powerful impression so make sure the scents in your home are all good ones. Baking cookies before a showing might be an old trick, but realtors do it for a reason. The scents of baking create a homey feel, but not all kitchen smells are necessarily good. Be careful what you cook before having visitors to your home – strong smells can last a long time and make their way throughout the home.

Making it Feel “Lived In”

So we said to remove your personality as much as you can from the home, but that doesn’t mean the home should be lifeless. Show your house’s potential as a home with little things that bring it to life. Put a mug and a book by a comfy chair and it becomes a reading corner, put towels tied with ribbon and scented candles by the bathtub and it becomes a relaxing place to wind down in the evening. These little things can help buyers see how they might use a space. Additionally, make sure that each space in your home has a distinct and easily identifiable purpose. You may have a room that triples as a craft/game/work room but for showings, dress it up as just one thing to give a clear picture of what the buyer can do with it.

Assess Furniture

If your furniture is too big for the space, it can make a home seem cramped and small. Cart out oversized elements to open the space up and make it more roomy. Also pay attention to how furniture is organized. You may be used to the way your furniture is arranged so try to walk through your home with a fresh slate, noticing and adjusting any places where the path is awkward and the natural flow from room to room is interrupted.

Preparing a home for sale can seem like a daunting task with so many things to consider, but good presentation can mean all the difference in attracting a buyer and closing a deal. Try these tips out and see how much they can do for you.

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