2021 was an all time record-breaking year for the housing market in the United States. Along with that, it was a sellers market, and not much is expected to change for this year (2022). While the housing market is at an all time high, mortgage rates are at an all time low, leaving home buyers wanting to take advantage of this opportunity. Whether or not you’re a seasoned home seller or selling a home for the first time, here are step-by-step instructions to help you sell your home and make it stand out. 

Make Repairs & Small Updates:

Making small repairs and updates to your home before you show it is an easy way to please potential buyers, along with attract them to your home. This is a sure way to assure your home's value along with adding to the overall value of your home. 

Understand the market's current trends

There are some home design trends that really made their headway this past year such as a new kitchen, quartz countertops, an office and recessed lighting, these were the top 4 most valuable home trends for buyers in the past year. The pandemic really impacted our lives in many ways but it definitely changed the wants of buyers all around the United States. The reason being more people spending long periods of time in their homes, and wanting their home to be able to completely accommodate their wants and needs. While many of us were isolated in our homes during this time, many picked up new hobbies and activities such as baking, making the want of a new updated kitchen and beautiful quartz countertops so high up on that list of desired trends for buyers. 

Needless to say, many jobs also went remote and stayed that way making the need for a home office space less of a trend and more of a necessary space in peoples homes. If you're trying to sell your home and you have a small room that could be converted to and staged as an office do so, before listing and showing your home. If your home doesn’t have a room that can easily be transformed into an office space, even an extra area beneath a staircase can easily be designed into an office space with a small desk, a chair and a few decorations. 

The great outdoors

Another way the pandemic has changed the needs of home buyers is their desire to have a nice welcoming outdoor space. Again, with many of us not being able to leave our homes due to the pandemic many of us got used to enjoying the outdoor accommodations of our homes and grew to value them more during this time. Home buyers now are prioritizing their outdoor spaces, so make sure to spruce these areas up a little bit before listing your home. You can make your home stand out by simply mowing your lawn, power washing the deck and the external siding of your home, trimming your hedges, planting some flowers and maybe even putting some fresh mulch in your flowerbeds. If you don’t have the time to do these things, consider hiring a landscaping company. 

Let there be light!

A poorly lit home can really damage the entire feel of your home. A dark home automatically appear smaller, dirty and more cramped even when the home might be very spacious and welcoming. There are plenty of quick and easy ways to brighten your home without hurting your wallet. Try changing out all old light bulbs with the new LED light bulbs (these also use less electricity, therefore save you money and helping the environment), add mirrors to reflect natural light within the home, paint any dark walls white or a nice neutral color, and add additional light sources such a fun lamps and recessed lights which we just learned is another desired trend of the year.

Get Rid of That Clutter:

This is probably the biggest importance when prepping your home to be sold. A cluttered home can be very unwelcoming and can also immediately deter potential buyers into even considering your home for purchase. If you're asking what do you do with your belongings so that you can declutter, renting a small storage unit for a few months has grown increasingly popular for this purpose. This way, you have already gotten some of the moving process out of the way as well prior to selling your home. Another thing you can do if you decide that you actually don’t need the additional items, is donate them that way you are also helping a family that might not be able to afford furniture for their home on their own. It’s important to declutter your home for many reasons, to much clutter leads to making your spaces look smaller along  with making it more difficult for potential buyers to envision their belongings within specific living spaces in your home. Along with subtracting any unnecessary clutter, it's a good idea to get rid of any personal and family photos you have placed throughout your home. When people see personal photos it makes it even harder for potential buyers to remove the idea that they are walking through a family's house as opposed to their prospective home.

Home Staging Tips:

• Deep clean your home: Nothing is more of a deterrent to buyers than an unwelcoming dirty home. Make sure before any photos are taken of your home or any showing take place that your home has a fresh cleaning done to it. Vacuum, dust, clean windows, scrub countertops and bathroom spaces.

• Add refreshing aspects: Adding white towels to the bathrooms, flowers around the house and lighting a few scented candles can really create a welcoming and fresh feeling to your home. 

• Arrange furniture: An easy way to revamp your home to be on the market is by simply moving furniture around. Move unnecessary and bulky furniture out of your home and just keep the essentials. If you have too much furniture in your home, it makes the rooms look smaller and adds to that cluttered feeling.

• Highlight those floors: A home's floors are a key feature to any home and are one of the main things a home buyer looks at and considers when looking for their new home. Hardwood floors are a big turn-on for a lot of potential buyers in today's market, make sure if you have hardwood floors to show them off! Remove any area rugs off the floors along with any large furniture that is unnecessary so people can get a view of the hardwood. If you want to take this extra step, polish your floors before showing days to really make those floors pop! 

• Organize closets: People very often look into closets to see how much space there is in there, and if it will fit all of their clothing and other belongings. If your closet is messy this will make your closet look smaller and frankly will immediately make them shut the door and look away. Lack of closet space can very well deter a buyer into placing an offer. 

Pack Up The Furry Family Members

For the peace of mind of your pets, Real Estate agents and potential buyers it's best that you bring your furry friends to a different location during showing times. A lot of people in and out of your home can stress a cat or dog out, you also don't want your agent to have to worry about accidentally letting an animal out and having to be liable for that. If you have a dog and lock them away in a crate or room, more often than not the dog will bark and no one wants to hear the ear piercing sound of a dog's bark when trying to view a home. It’s best for the safety and well being of your fur babies and everyone else involved, to bring your pets to a different location. 

Play Some Relaxing Music

Last but not least play some toons for the views to enjoy. Make sure it's something relaxing, calming and upbeat music. This is a simple touch but it can really make your home stand out along with adding a relaxing and tranquil feel to your home. If you have a unique system to play your music off of even better, bring out a record player to be a quaint visual, along with providing a unique sound to your home.