Hey hey y’all!

How are we today? Tired? stressed? Excited next week is Thanksgiving?! I know, me too because Thanksgiving means time to decorate for Christmas! It’s also our last wedding for 2016 next weekend! I am so excited for Christmas this year to really focus on what matters most.

This week I am finally sharing some posts that I have had running in my head and written in my handy blog post idea notebook related to our first home and the process of selling it and preserving the memories we made in it.

Y’all selling a home is nothing short or emotional, stressful, and in our situation the longest experience ever. After 5 extensions over the course of about 6 weeks and 2 additional mortgage payments we finally made it to closing, praise the Lord!

Thankfully once we got our home on the market (thank you Elizabeth and Keller Williams!) we were under contract fairly quickly, it was just the buyer’s lender that prolonged everything.

So today, I am sharing my tips to getting your house market ready and selling it as quickly as possible (and hopefully you won’t go through as many extensions as we did!)

1. Declutter: Buyers want to be able to see the actual house friends, since you know you are moving box up what you don’t use everyday!
2. Depersonalize: Buyers want to visualize themselves in their potential new home, and a big picture of your family (no matter how cute y’all are!) could prevent them from doing so.
3. Clean Yo House: Mercy, this basically comes from husband and I pouring over house after house images for a new home. Cleaning is what I think of as self-explanatory, but don’t leave dirty dishes in the sink, put your laundry away, and sweep and vacuum the floors!
4. Stage (Less is more): Don’t overstage with too many “things” lying around. Keep the kitchen counterspace free except for a small vase of flowers or a colorful bowl of produce. In the bathroom have a pretty soap dispenser and a folded hand towel. And in the bedrooms a simple accent blanket thrown over the corner of a freshly made bed, and maybe a candle  and a book on the bedside table. Easy peesy.
5. Natural Light: If possible, hopefully your showings will be during the day. So before leaving open all the blinds and pull all the curtains back and flood your home with as much natural light as possible. I also turned on all the lights as well. Showings typically only take 30 minutes or so, so you’re not wasting that much electricity, but you are creating a bright space that is welcoming to potential buyers.
6. Bake Cookies: This is my favorite! Who can resist fresh homemade cookies, plus they make your home smell so good! We had an appointment who ate all EIGHT cookies we left out! If you don’t have time to bake them, you can always grab a few fresh boxes at the store and keep them in the freezer, so you can just take out a few at a time.

Thankfully for us, these tips worked really well! If you are selling your home soon, prayers for a quick sale and the least amount of stress as possible friends!

Do you have any other tips for selling? Share them with us in the comments!

xoxo, Tamara