What Are the Top Tips For Selling My Older Home Faster?

The time has come to sell your Connecticut home, and it may feel overwhelming to try and list the house you’ve lived in for decades in a market seemingly dominated by just-completed homes. Before you become disenchanted with the process of listing your house, take a deep breath! Your Calcagni Realtor will be able to help market your older home to different types of buyers and speak to the “fixer upper” loans available to those potential buyers.

Whether they’re passionately committed to living in the town in which your home is located, interested in renovating it to “flip” or just want an ongoing improvement project to sink their hammer into, buyers of older homes are out there—and with a few of our top tips for selling it faster, you may be very pleasantly surprised to find the Calcagni Real Estate “for sale” sign in your front yard soon says “sold”!

1. Clean up from the outside in

While it’s critically important to take simple steps to get the inside of your older home ready to sell, it’s easy to forget that your yard, front porch and driveway also hold incredible sway over potential buyers! Think about it: When buyers arrive to view your home, their first impression begins the minute they pull up to your address. Cleaning up clutter in the yard, trimming the grass and tidying overgrown trees or shrubs can go a long way.

According to homelight.com, “One study out of Texas Tech University in 2012 concluded that landscaping and curb appeal can directly impact the value of your house by as much 12%. Research from HomeLight supports this years later: Our 2019 Top Agent Insights Survey found that most real estate experts estimate that well-landscaped homes are worth anywhere from 1% to 10% more than homes with no landscaping.”

If the thought of landscaping sounds overwhelming, take heart: You don’t need to hire a grounds crew to add new landscaping to your yard. Simply cleaning up existing plants, grass and ridding your property of clutter can work wonders in setting that all-important first impression for potential buyers of your older home.

2. Highlight the light

If you’ve ever sighed in pleasure at sunlight streaming through a window, you know how important light can be in setting the mood of a home. Whether your older home has lots of natural light or tends to be on the darker side, highlighting what light it does have makes all the difference to your Connecticut homebuyers! Removing dark drapes, trimming back bushes or trees that interfere with natural sunlight entering your home or simply installing brighter lightbulbs and ensuring all lighting sources are on during showings can help illuminate all there is to love about your older home.

3. Remove personal items

Your home is a reflection of who you are—as well it should be! When you’re getting ready to list your older home, however, it’s helpful to remove family photos and memorabilia to help your buyers visualize themselves living in your home. If it feels too overwhelming to remove everything, make a goal to put at least half of these items away during the time your home is listen for sale.

4. De-clutter (even in closets)

Removing clutter throughout your home is key in helping it show well, no matter what its age! Clear surfaces of curios, picture frames, piles of paper and odds and ends that can make a space feel cluttered. Having clean surfaces can help showcase the overall layout of your home, allowing buyers to really see existing details and enabling them to visualize changes they might make to suit their own tastes.

One more thing to consider: While it may be easiest to throw clutter in a closet and shut the door, don’t forget that for many homebuyers, closet space is a strong selling point! They’ll be looking inside closets to see what storage features your home has, so if you do store your clutter in your closets, make sure it’s organized in containers that keep your closets looking nice and neat.

5. Make small upgrades

Small upgrades can make a big difference in selling your older home; not only will they attract more homebuyers, but chances are, they’ll pay off in the long run. Upgrades like painting the walls a fresh white or other neutral color, swapping out hardware like new cabinet pulls (or doorknobs/handles), sprucing up a bathroom with fresh grout or a new towel rack can go a long way in making your older home look more modern.

6. Flattering photographs

When it’s time to take photos of your home, your Calcagni Realtor can provide helpful staging suggestions that will play up your home’s natural light and take advantage of a room’s best angles for photos. Their goal is to create the most flattering photographs of your home to make it easier for buyers perusing online to get a truer sense of the living space in your home.