by Allison Luthe

Created on: April 07, 2008

Not everyone has the same artistic, creative eye when buying a new house, so as the seller you must do the work to maximize the selling price! It is important to show buyers how much they are actually getting for their money. They must to be able to envision themselves in that home, and they want to envision themselves living in a stylish, clean, spacious home.

Above all else, as a seller, you must take on a new attitude about your home. As you are making these improvements and necessary, but difficult changes, keep thinking about the additional money you will make, or the money you will save by being able to get out from under your mortgage. You will have to constantly remind yourself of your end goal throughout all of the hard work and tough decisions. Adopt the new attitude that you are just temporarily living in this house until it sells. You and your family will move onto a new home that you can decorate and make your own. This house must be decorated for the wide variety of potential customers who will be walking in the door.

This new attitude must come into play as you de-personalize your house. Buyers cannot envision themselves in a home when looking at personal items that belong to the seller, even if the house is not very cluttered. For example, start packing early by packing away all of the family photos, collectibles and personal items. Clean all of the magnets, photos and artwork from your refrigerators, mirrors and windows. Go through all of your personal items in the bathroom or on your dresser top and dispose of empty bottles or things you do not use anymore.

Clean out your closets and drawers. First, go through the items and determine what if anything needs to be donated, or sold at a garage sale. Take the time to photograph items and place them for sale on craigslist.org or backpage.com. Put the things you are planning to take to your new home in an off-site storage unit so that your closets are clean. This will maximize the appearance of storage space in your home. Take this same approach with the things you are currently using. Reduce the amount of furniture in each room. Again, when buyers come into your home, they must be able to visualize their furniture in their new home.

Remove or replace decorations and accessories that are too personalized. Do you love floral fabric, or polka dots, or African masks? These can be great decorating themes but are too specialized when your home is on the market. Decrease the number of accessories, and limit

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