Santa Cruz Real Estate News & Information

Now that the weather is improving, potential buyers will once again head out to shop for new Santa Cruz homes. Make sure all your spring cleaning is finished and everything is spruced up to get ready to sell.

To help you prepare, here are some spring-cleaning tips for Santa Cruz homes:

• Be objective: Think of your house as a product. If you distance yourself, you’ll be able to recognize and correct its faults that you’ve gotten used to.

• De-personalize: Pack up your family pictures and personal mementos. Remember, you want buyers to imagine they live in your house, and pictures of your family everywhere won’t help.

• Clean: Scrub, dust and vacuum like you haven’t in years! Nothing makes a better impression than an immaculately clean house. Buyers will often overlook small problems, if they feel like they could serve dinner on your dining room floor.

• Purge furniture: When it comes to spring cleaning, don’t just stop with the dirt. Rent a storage unit and remove any furniture that is over-crowding a room or is out of date. Buyers respond best to houses that have just enough furniture to show each room’s purpose. Anything more just gets in the way.

• Organize: Buyers will snoop through your stuff, so ensure your cabinets and closets are in order. You’ll want to make it look like your house has plenty of storage.

• Invest in curb appeal: Remove weeds from flower beds or put a few pots full of plants near your front door. Go for bright colors that still complement your house color.

• Make minor repairs: The fewer things buyers need or want to fix about your house, the more they’ll like it.

• Remove keepers: If there are any appliances, window coverings, or light fixtures that you want to take to your new house, get them out before buyers walk through. That way, you won’t be expected to throw them in during negotiations. You don’t want your great-grandma’s chandelier to hold up a sale.

If you want to make sure your spring cleaning stacks up to other Santa Cruz homes, give me a call today at 831-662-6522 or email me at Lauren@LaurenSpencer.com.

For more information, please visit my website at www.MySantaCruzRealEstate.com.