Ten Weekend Fixes To Sell Faster

We share 10 practical, low-cost staging moves sellers can do in a single weekend to improve days on market and strengthen offers. We focus on how buyers actually react during showings so the home feels bigger, cleaner, and easier to say yes to. 

• applying the 50% rule to declutter rooms, closets, and cabinets 
• keeping packed items out of the garage with off-site storage 
• removing personal photos plus religious and political items 
• watching what you reveal with diplomas and certifications 
• swapping in universal decor like landscapes and mirrors 
• deep cleaning details that signal real home care 
• neutralizing odors without scented plug-ins 
• rearranging furniture for flow, scale, and better MLS photos 
• styling bathrooms and bedrooms with a hotel feel 
• layering lighting with lamps for warmth 
• boosting curb appeal fast with door paint, a new mat, and flowers 
• organizing closets by color and neutralizing bold choices 

If you're ready to leave your nine to five and want to do something that's buildable and scalable, check out linden-creek.com/franchise and see if Linden Creek is the right fit for you. 

If you're looking for more hacks and ways to make your property show better, check out the next video. 

Transcript

When A Seller Won’t Stage

SPEAKER_00 0:00

You've got a seller that doesn't want to work with a stager? Let me give you a resource. I'm gonna give you 10 things that they can do this weekend for almost no money that's going to help improve their days on market and their offer. None of these require a designer, and they are taken straight from the playbook that we use. Agents, go ahead and share this with your seller, and your prep call just got 30 minutes shorter.

The 50% Rule For Decluttering

SPEAKER_00 0:31

Number one, the 50% rule. More times than not, we find that when you walk into a home before it's ready to sell, there's simply too much stuff. And when we remove some of the stuff, what we find is the home breathes and actually it feels larger. So my challenge to you sellers out there is this go ahead and assess your home and your rooms and cut out 50% of what's in there. This is really honestly most impactful when you start to think about the nitty-gritty things like closets or inside your kitchen cabinets. The reality is you're going to have to pack away every single item that's in that home eventually. So you might as well get started now because the moment your agent calls and says you've got an offer on the table, now you're cutting it close and you've got a 30-day window. So get some of that knocked out now. Consider this a blessing that you can get some of those things prepared before the next season. When you've removed half those things and your space got bigger, one of the things you want to be really careful about is not moving all that stuff into your garage. Ideally, you want to rent some sort of storage unit or pod space that can keep things off the premise so that it truly does feel like a larger space everywhere

Depersonalize Without Feeling Sterile

SPEAKER_00 1:40

in the home. Number two, go ahead and store away any personal photos that you have displayed throughout your home. The reason we want to encourage this is not because your family isn't beautiful, because they truly are. But the challenge around having their photos up is now as a buyer, if I walk into your home, I'm admiring your adorable family and I'm not thinking about myself and my family moving into the home. We want to change the narrative. We want to make sure that people can imagine themselves being in the space and that they don't just feel like they're walking into somebody else's home. In addition to these personal photos, the other thing you want to be really mindful of is storing away any religious items as well as political items. One of the biggest challenges I've seen sometimes is a buyer may walk in and have a different perspective and view than you do. And that is okay, but you don't want to turn them off or deter them because of additional detail you're providing. One other thing to caution is sometimes we find that in an office a homeowner wants to display their degrees, their certifications, those sorts of details. Be mindful about what you're displaying because whatever you put on that wall is something available for the buyer to see. Do you want them to know that you're a doctor? Do you want them to know what university you're working at? All of those details matter. And so you may choose that you want to have that be open information, but if not, store it away so that it can be more private. Once you've removed these items, you're gonna want to replace them with something else. This is a great spot for landscape art because it is really universal and most people are drawn to it. Another one of my favorites is to bring a mirror into the space. What we find when we bring in a mirror is it actually reflects light, which makes the room bigger. These are little details that can make a really big impact. Love design, but think like a business owner? If you're ready to leave your nine to five and want to do something that's buildable and scalable, check out linden-creek.com slash franchise and see if Linden Creek is the right fit for you.

Deep Clean Signals A Cared-For Home

SPEAKER_00 3:28

Number three, deep clean your home. Now we all know about cleaning your home, vacuum the floors, wipe the countertops, those details. But deep cleaning matters to you. Scrubbing out your microwave and your oven and your stove. You want to make sure you're wiping down your baseboards if you're not painting them to make sure that they are truly thoroughly clean. Look at your light fixtures. Have they been dusted in a while? Those are oftentimes forgotten and those little details matter because what it says to a potential buyer when they see things dirty or a little bit off is that the home isn't cared for. So all of a sudden they start to spiral. They go, wait a second, they're not cleaning out their microwave, the baseboards look like they haven't been touched in a while. I wonder when the last time was they changed their air filters or got their HVAC maintained. And all of a sudden, something as simple as wiping down a baseboard has turned into a $10,000 or $20,000 expense in their brain as they're thinking about more expensive maintenance costs that might be hiding behind the walls.

Fix Odors Without Plug-Ins

SPEAKER_00 4:23

Number four, neutralize the smell and don't use plugins. When there is a scented home with those GLAD plugins that we all know and love, here's what happens. Every buyer scratches their head and goes, What scent are they actually hiding? My recommendation to you is twofold. One, find that best friend of yours that is willing to be brutally honest with you. Ask them to come over for a cup of coffee. And when they first walk in the door, ask them if they smell any sort of odor. Good, bad, and different. You want to know what their experience is. The reason around this is when we actually live in our own homes, we don't notice the scents that come with that home. And so getting a fresh nose that's gonna give you some honest feedback can be really helpful. In addition to this, one of the other things you want to think about is actually opening up your windows throughout the home a few days prior to listings and then being mindful about the fact that you might want to have some fans running to circulate

Furniture Flow Beats Perfect Decor

SPEAKER_00 5:17

the air. Number five, rearrange your furniture for flow and scale. This is one of those opportunities where you might need to take some furniture out of the home, but you want to think about the walkway and the path that a potential buyer is gonna take in your home. So close your eyes, imagine you're the buyer for a minute, walk in the front door, where are you gonna walk in that room? Is it to the living room first? Do you have a way to actually walk physically into the living room or are you blocked by chairs and sofas? If you're blocked, consider removing a piece of furniture when necessary or pivoting and adjusting the way things are laid out. Oftentimes I say the way that I'm going to stage a living room is totally different than the way that I would design it if somebody was going to live there. You want to think about the photograph that's going to be taken for MLS and the way somebody is going to actually physically tour the home. Buyers don't necessarily measure a room when they're touring a property. They feel them. They walk in and they say, this feels complete, this feels large, this feels small. And so making sure that there actually is true flow allows them to equate that to being more than enough space in a room.

Make Baths And Beds Feel Hotel

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Number six, turn your bathrooms and your bedrooms into a hotel. This is one of my favorite hacks, and this is the one place you're gonna spend a little bit of money, but I promise you it's worth every penny. Get fresh white bath towels for your bathrooms. As simple as that sounds, fresh and luxurious bath towels make a really big impact. Make your bathroom feel like a spa. Bring in a candle or two, some fresh sprigs from your backyard or flowers from Trader Joe's. Those little simple elements that you think about when you think about a luxurious hotel experience makes your bathroom feel that same way. If you have a large shower in your bathroom, one thing you might want to consider is even rolling a few towels and placing them in the corner. This makes it feel even more spa-like. When it comes to your bedroom, the way you get the spa feeling is again thinking about bedding and layers and texture and volume. The taller your comforter is, let me say that again. The taller your comforter is, the more likely it is to feel luxurious. And so you want to have layers of duvets if you can, layers of bedding if you can, and keeping those all very neutral. White is a great go-to. Bringing in some linens for added texture can be really nice as well, but this is not the place to play boldly with color or pattern. Keep it simple and make it feel like that hotel that was your favorite.

Layer Lighting For Warmth

SPEAKER_00 7:37

Number seven, layer with lighting. This one is all too often forgotten and really important. When a potential buyer is walking through your home, you never know what the day is going to be like. It could be they're coming in at 8 p.m. and it is dark. And if they flip on the lights and it's only the overhead lightings, sometimes it can feel stark and overwhelming. So if you imagine yourself coming into the home to tour it at 8 p.m., wouldn't it be nice if there were lamps on to kind of set the mood? And then you can layer it with that additional overhead lighting. That's one of those simple things to really think about. And maybe they're all doing their showings during the day, but what if it's a gloomy day and the natural light's not coming in? Thinking about where lighting can be layered throughout your entire home is important. If a lamp can exist in a room, please put it in there. It's amazing the more intimate feeling a space has once that additional lighting is

Curb Appeal In Under An Hour

SPEAKER_00 8:28

there. Number eight, think about your curb appeal. We want to tackle this in 60 minutes or less, because again, we're doing this all over the course of a weekend. So, what can your seller do in about an hour to make the biggest impact? My recommendations are this: one, paint the front door. Whether it needs a new fresh coat of paint or a fresh color, this is an easy consideration and change that can be made to the home. Add a front door mat in front that is fresh and clean and new, and even consider adding some fresh flowers across the front of the lawn. Number nine, organize your closets by purpose and by color. Now, this is where all of my friends that are also fellow home edit gurus are gonna get really excited. I'm giving you the excuse to deep dive into your closet and organize it by color. And those of you that think this is a complete waste of time, let me tell you this. There is something about visually seeing clean, smooth colors carrying across the space that make a really big impact. So use the time, get your kids involved in their closets as well, and organize your clothing items by color to give a clean, fresh feel in that closet. And finally, number 10, neutralize

Closets, Bold Choices, And Wrap-Up

SPEAKER_00 9:34

anything that feels really bold. If you've got a strong, bold paint color somewhere in the home, consider using something simple and white and clean to replace it. If there's a bold piece of art or statement piece that's somewhere in your home, this is the consideration. Would people be offended? Are there people that are gonna walk in and maybe not love it the way that you do? Play it safe, keep it simple, and make it neutral. I hope you found these 10 tips helpful as you prepare your home to sell. If you're looking for more hacks and ways to make your property show better, check out the next video. Thanks for spending your time with me. This is In Good Space.