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Obviously, your home should look its best when potential buyers arrive. However, time is not always on your side. There may be times when you have only a few minutes to get things ready. What you do with those minutes can mean the difference between an interested buyer… and one who crosses your home off their list.

Here are some things you can do to help your home look its best in just five minutes or less:

• Put away coats, hats, and shoes. Clean up, especially around the foyer. You don’t want clutter to be the first thing a buyer sees.
• Turn on all lights and lamps. A home that’s bright looks larger.
• Put on some soft music. Easy listening is the best choice. Don’t play rock or jazz music because some people might dislike it. Think elevator music.
• Make sure the toilet lids are down. Even when a washroom is sparkling clean, a raised toilet seat gives the impression – however incorrectly – that things are less than hygienic.
• Relocate the pets. Put pets in the backyard or basement, or at least segregate them in a separate room. Better still, take them away from your home entirely.
• Close the garage doors. Most garages don’t look great on the inside.
• Hide the waste bins. Keep them out of sight.
• Wash the dishes. If possible, don’t leave them on a drying rack. Put them away.
• Put away personal items. Put family pictures, bills, and other personally identifying information away. You want the buyers to visualize themselves living in your home, not you.
• Open all curtains and blinds. This makes rooms look bigger and brighter, even at night.

House hunting can be a grind. If you’re not careful, it can easily take both an emotional and physical toll on you.

At the beginning, you and your family will be fueled by excitement, desire and enthusiasm – the raw ingredients of adrenaline. That’s what keeps you going.

After a while, however, a long day of viewing homes with fidgety kids and an empty stomach can leave you exhausted. When that happens, even the most ideal home can seem undesirable.

Since you don’t want exhaustion to result in a missed opportunity, it’s important to pace yourself. Here are some tips for doing just that.

• When it comes to endurance, everyone has their limits. If a child or spouse is looking tired, take a break. Just because one person is able to see a lot of homes in quick succession doesn’t mean everyone else in the family will have the same stamina.
• Never house shop on an empty stomach. Make sure everyone has a good breakfast, lunch, or dinner before heading out.
• If you have young children, find out where the local parks and playgrounds are located. These are great places to take a break and let the kids play for a while.
• Keep some bottled water and perhaps some light snacks in the car. You never know when someone’s stomach will begin to grumble.
• During an all-day excursion, avoid the temptation to eat a large lunch at a restaurant. It may make you feel sluggish and tired in the afternoon.

If you’ve been househunting for several weeks, all the homes may start to look alike. If this happens, take a few days off. It will help to restore your perspective.

When potential buyers visit your home, they often feel like intruders. After all, in most cases, they don’t know you personally. Yet, there they are, walking through your hallways, looking in your bedroom closets, and even checking out the cabinet space in your washrooms.

Obviously, you want buyers to feel comfortable when they are viewing your house. But how do you make sure they do?

Here are a couple of good ideas:

First, pack up family photos and other personal items you have dispersed throughout the home. Why is this important? When a buyer sees a diploma hanging on the wall, they get that uneasy “someone lives here” feeling.

Second, don’t be in your home during viewings. Instead, visit a coffee shop, go shopping, or take the kids to the park. Buyers feel really uncomfortable viewing a home when the owners are there. As a result, they may leave without giving your property serious consideration.

If you absolutely must be home during a viewing, try to remain out of the way. Don’t volunteer information or attempt to give buyers “the tour”. Instead, be available to answer questions, if asked.

You see a great home. You pull out your mortgage calculator and start punching in the numbers. The estimated monthly payment is displayed on the screen. You think, “Yep, we can afford that!”

Can you?

It’s easy to be seduced by a mortgage payment calculation. However, mortgage payments aren’t the only costs of owning a home. You also need to consider:

• Property taxes
• Home insurance premiums
• Electricity costs
• Maintenance (especially a factor in older homes.)
• And more.

If you don’t, you could end up spending hundreds of dollars more per month than you originally expected.

Make a Power Switch!

If you’re looking for ways that you and your family can reduce your energy use, keep track of your consumption by saving your bills, and noting the dates of any major changes (eg. severe weather, new appliance, change of routine, etc.). Then compare your consumption and spending to previous years’ results.

Meanwhile, here are some “electrical switches” you can make right away, for a noticeable cost reduction:

• Switch to newer, smaller fluorescent bulbs.
• Switch large or multi-light fixtures to dimmer controls.
• Switch to water-saving showerheads.
• Switch your laundry wash to cold water – most washing energy is spent making hot water.

Imagine this scenario. You hire a Home Inspector to inspect a house you’ve made an offer on. The inspector goes over everything with a fine tooth comb, outside-to-inside, basement-to-ceiling.

Great so far.

Then he presents you with his findings, points out areas that need repairs – and then offers to do this work himself because he’s also a contractor!

That’s called a “conflict of interest”. You cannot confirm whether the home inspection was done honestly, or with the aim of getting more work from you.

When hiring any professional, make sure that the advice or opinion you’ll be relying on is unbiased.

No one buys or sells a home alone. You need the help of a professional – and likely a whole team of professionals – to assist you in achieving your goals and protecting your interests.

A real estate transaction can be stressful enough. So when it comes to choosing professionals to help you – before, during and after the transaction – be selective.

Typically, you will require a REALTOR® and a lawyer to complete the purchase and/or sale. But you may also need a lender, home inspector, insurance broker, home improvement contractor, landscape specialist, tradesperson(s), interior designer, etc. Here are three important factors to consider when making your choices:

1. Qualifications
   Before you hire any professional, make sure they have the appropriate qualifications. Ask specifically what degree, certification or training they’ve received. Many professionals in the home industry are licensed or certified by their respective professional or trade associations. Ask to see these documents.
2. Experience
   As author Douglas Gray points out in Home Buying Made Easy, a lawyer with ten years experience may only have spent six months handling real estate transactions. Remember, you’ll be relying heavily on the skill, advice and insights of each professional you hire. Make sure they have experience in the specific field you require.
3. Reputation
   Ask for client testimonials and references. Be sure to call these people and ask for their candid opinions of the services provided. Talk to others in the industry. Word of a good, as well as a bad, reputation gets around.

Choosing the right professional is like picking the right players for a baseball team. The better you choose, the more likely you are to win the game. (Or, in this case, the home of your dreams.)

Getting bored of the four walls that surround a particular room? Want to redecorate, but worried that you don’t have the budget? Here are some low-cost ideas for revitalizing the look of just about any area of your home.

Paint. It’s amazing what a $30 dollar can of paint can do. Changing the shade of a wall, or even just the trim and baseboards, can have a dramatic effect on a room.

Lighting. How a room is lit has an impact on its overall design. Consider replacing any lamps and ceiling light fixtures. Don’t forget that the brightness and location of the lighting can also make a big difference.

Sofas and chairs. You don’t have to spend thousands of dollars replacing furniture. If your sofas and chairs are still in good shape, just replace the fabric and pillows.

Shelving and other organizers. Stuffed bookshelves and cluttered surface areas can make a room feel uncomfortable. Consider installing extra shelving and using other products available on the market to help you organize your space.

One final tip: Take stuff out. People often think of redecorating as changing or adding things. But often just taking some stuff out of a room can significantly improve its look and comfort. When it comes to decorating, less is often more.

An effective technique to help you sell your property quickly and for the best price is to put yourself in the shoes of a potential buyer. Don’t just visualize this. Actually do it!

Drive to your property and imagine that you’re seeing it for the first time. What’s your impression? Is the landscaping attractive? Are the walkways clear? Is the front door welcoming?

Now walk up to the front door, open it, and step inside. Does the foyer seem neat and uncluttered? Is there anything unsightly from that vantage point?

Take a walk through your home, starting in rooms that a potential buyer would predictably view first: the kitchen, living room and bedrooms. Do you notice anything you could change or improve, that would make those areas more appealing?

Next, check out the washrooms, closets and basement. Are they clean and tidy?

Finally, think about the price you want for the home. As a buyer, would you be enticed to make an offer at that level? Are there any nagging doubts about the property that would hold you back?

Understanding the impression your home will make on potential buyers will help you sell it faster.

When you put your home on the market, it’s important that you make the indoor living space as attractive as possible to potential buyers. The foyer should look spacious and inviting. The bedrooms, neat and uncluttered. The basement, clean and well lit.

All good advice.

But don’t forget the outdoor living space. That too has a significant impact on how quickly your home sells and for how much. You want to make the area around your property, from the front walkway to the backyard deck, as attractive as possible.

How do you do that? Here are some tips for sprucing up your outdoor living space that can be easily implemented.

• Trim the hedges. Like a haircut, it gives your landscaping a clean, styled look.
• Place flower pots in strategic locations, such as next to the front steps and on the deck or patio.
• Fix anything that’s loose or squeaking, such as fence gates, shutters and deck railings.
• Remove anything unsightly, like garbage bags and piles of garden cuttings.
• Sweep all walkways, especially the one leading to your front door.
• Wash the outsides of your windows. (No need for ladders, buckets and scrub brushes. Most home improvement stores now sell window washing kits that hook up to your garden hose.)
• Check to make sure everything works: water taps, electrical outlets, exterior lights, etc.

You can probably get most of this work done in a single weekend. It’s worth it. Making your outdoor living space look great will dramatically increase your home’s appeal to potential buyers.