Real Appeal

Decorating to Sell Your Home

By Sarah Van Arsdale

Even in the best of markets, it takes a lot more than just putting up a sign and vacuuming the living room to sell your home. How do you decide what to spend your time and money on and where you're better off holding back in order to prepare your home for a sale?

To find out, we went right to three real estate experts in New York City, Minnesota and Santa Fe: Diane Wildowsky, a broker with one of the New York City offices of Sotheby's International Realty; Chas Campbell, president and publisher of MNRealty.com Inc., who sold real estate for many years and now acts as an educator, marketing consultant and webmaster for other top realtors in the Twin Cities; and Susan Orth, broker and part owner of City Different Realty in Santa Fe, N.M.

First, we asked the agents what they think are the most important cosmetic improvements a homeowner can make to prepare a property for sale, and they all agreed: Keeping the place immaculately clean is paramount.

Start with minimizing clutter, an activity which will also make your packing easier when it comes time to move to your new place. Before you even put your place on the market, take this time to make that trip to the Salvation Army, throwing out anything you haven't used in a year. Once you have more room in the closets, you can further reduce the clutter around the house, putting away the things that are precious to you but which will only distract the prospective buyer, Wildowsky says.

"You want prospective buyers to see the 'bones' of the property and not be distracted by clutter or art collections or tabletops filled with family photos," she says. "Organize the closets, clear the kitchen countertops, remove decorative magnets and the children's drawings off the refrigerator. Periodically we'll suggest some furniture be removed to give a room a more open, airy feeling."

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