You’ll need these tips & ticks to entice buyers to come in out of the cold:

Let in the Light

Pull up the blinds, push back the drapes on every window (unless the view or outdoor scenery is particularly undesirable). Turn on every light in the house, including appliance lights and closet lights.

Make Everything Sparkle

Washing the windows enhances the precious daylight hours. Clean out cobwebs and dust furniture, ceiling fan blades, and light fixtures. Check out our list to get your home shining in 30-days!

Turn Up the Heat

You want the temperature inside to be comfortable and to give buyers more incentive to linger, especially on a cold day. It's better to heat the house a degree or two warmer than usual and then set the temperature at normal; this prevents the heat from kicking on when the buyer is present. If you have a fireplace, light it up!

Make an Entrance

A rubber mat by the front door and a container to hold wet umbrellas and shoes is a great idea to prevent soaking your entryway. Keep pathways salted and in the rare event it snows, shovel a path, including the sidewalk so buyers aren’t forced to crawl through snowdrifts!

Set the Mood

You want rooms to appear especially warm, cozy and inviting. Make your living room romantic by placing two champagne glasses near a champagne bucket on the coffee table; toss afghans or throws across the arms of your sofa. Dress your dining room table for a dinner for two.

Turn On the Sound

Have soft music playing throughout; light jazz or classical music is always soothing. Don't turn on a commercial radio station; instead stream your tunes from a computer or tablet, using iTunes or Spotify, so that your music will be continuous. Don’t forget to mute the ringers on telephones and answering machines.

Ease Up on the Scents

Many people are sensitive to certain perfumes, so don't spray the air or plug in air fresheners. Instead bake or reheat bread or cookies or warm up a pot of cinnamon on the stove.

Christmas Decorations

Keep to a decorations to a tasteful minimum. Don’t block or cover up important selling features like fireplace mantels, stairs or windows.

Looking for a Real Estate Team with holiday sale experience? The Grant Gardner Team has cleaned, painted, staged, marketed and sold a home just 4 days before Christmas. We even set a new benchmark price for the area, selling the home $150,000 more than the listing price!

A well-designed, streamlined home can have a direct impact on our overall well-being and help prospective buyers fall in love with your home. Furniture layout, light, air quality, and even colour can influence how we interact with a space and, as a result, have an effect on our mood. To create a wellness-oriented living space, consider every detail, from the aesthetics to functionality. These tips will create a home that promotes balance, harmony, and, most importantly, comfort.

The Living Room

How you feel as soon as you walk in the door? For the living room, the goal is to create a space that is relaxing, which can be achieved by zeroing in on the details.

Proportion and Scale: Furniture that is proportional and appropriate to your overall space will allow it to feel open and not like your walls are caving in on you.

Remove Clutter: Add streamlined storage. Clutter in the space is clutter in the mind.

Touching Moments: Incorporate various texture types, like mixing linens and soft upholstery.

Add Meaningful Items: Whether with flowers, a curated nook, or a particular color, make sure there are personal moments in each space that evoke happiness.

The Bathroom

Our indoor environments impact us on so many levels, including our stress levels, concentration, productivity, sleep quality and mood. Create spaces that are minimal and free of as many toxic materials as possible. The bathroom should be your calming sanctuary.

Reduce Clutter: Unnecessary accessories can get in the way of function. Plus, clear surfaces make for easier cleaning.

Curtain Call: Replace PVC shower curtains with glass or an all-natural option, such as hemp, nylon, or organic cotton.

Keep Mold At Bay: Rectify damp issues by running your ventilation fan.

Incorporate Greenery: Deck out the bath with an air-purifying, humidity-loving plants like orchids, ivy or ferns.

The Bedroom

The key to a wellness-oriented bedroom is to create an environment that is soothing, peaceful and free from distractions and toxins. Your bedroom is a retreat. When it looks and feels like one, it encourages rest. 

Strive For Symmetry: If space permits, placing a nightstand and lamp on each side of the bed. This will also provide a place to stash clutter.

Go Dark: Moody mid-tones or dark paint colors in the bedroom can have a cozy, enveloping effect.

Layer Textures: Think thick rugs and cozy bedding, pillows, and throws.

Rest Easy: It’s worth investing in a mattress that’s chemical-free to avoid potentially harmful off-gassing. Look for one made from organic materials and natural latex foam.

Set The Mood: Blackout shades or curtains provide complete darkness and a cocoon effect. Sound machines can work wonders for masking distracting noise.

Does your home suit your needs AND increase your equity? 

Basic indications of a house with good resale value include:

1. Rental Suites: Renting out a part of your home has perks for first time buyers who need a mortgage helper as well as retirees who want financial security.

2. Renovations: Tasteful, quality renovations that are emotionally appealing to the masses.

3. Entertainment Space: Homes that have a common sense flow with natural light and open entertaining spaces for people to gather. 

4. Location, Location, Location: If you choose a home in a desirable location, odds are that location will remain in favour. You can’t always anticipate neighbourhood changes that will impact your home’s value, but you can educate yourself on anything the city has in the works.

5. Storage Space: People love collecting too much stuff and they’ve got to store it somewhere. Homes with walk-in closets and plenty of storage space are attractive to most buyers.

6. More than 2 bedrooms: Many couples need a guest room and an office. A home with 3 bedrooms or more is always a better choice to ensure a profitable resale value.

7. More than 1 bathroom: Given the choice between a 2-bath home vs a 1-bath home, buyers will almost always opt for the 2-bath home. It’s not enough to simply have 2 or more baths - a home without a master bath may find a lower resale value.

8. Covered Parking: Unless you live in an area where most residents rely on public transportation, you need a place to park your car. If it’s a covered, enclosed area, all the better.

Get clarity on your choices! Allow the Grant Gardner Team to bring value into your home and share our +30 years of experience in all aspects of Real Estate.

Day 1: Change light bulbs. It’s easy to forget about all the bulbs that have burned out over the years. You want your home to be as bright as possible. 

Day 2: Baseboards. Use a damp cloth and wipe down all baseboards. They say following a wipe with a dryer sheet will help reduce future dust build-up. Repair and touch-up paint any damage.

Day 3: Get some boxes and duct tape. A big part of the adventure you’re about to embark on involves reducing clutter. An investment under $100 will get you proper packing supplies and reduce your stress. Better yet, consider Frogbox – re-useable boxes that won’t fall apart.

Day 4: Take down curtains and drapes, clean them and decide if they should be re-hung. Natural light can be a big selling feature!

Day 5: Tackle the bathrooms. Clean every sink, tub and toilet. Re-caulk if needed. Invest in some new white towels for display only. If your toilet seat, shower curtain or bath matt look tired and well-used, replace them. 

Day 6: Spruce up the kitchen. Remove everything from the cupboards and fridge and wipe them out. Don’t cram all your dishes and food back in, you want to convey that your kitchen has enough storage for the Buyer’s stuff. Remove your blender/Kitchen Aid mixer/toaster/bread machine from the counters – you want the counters to be as clear as possible. 

Day 7: Next up: create an oasis. The bedrooms should be inviting, and that means more cleaning and decluttering. Pack up out of season clothes to show Buyers how spacous the closets are. 

Day 8: Tackle the living room. Clean the sofa and chairs and invest in some new throw pillows. Hide the magazines and all the clutter that has accumulated. Hide the wires from your TV/stereo/speakers.

Day 9: Make your dining room look like a place someone might actually want to eat in. Declutter the piles of stuff that have accumulated on the dining room table. Clean up the hutch. Lay out a new table cloth to hide an old table.

Day 10: Clean the gutters and the roof.  Piles of pine needles and debris scream "high maintenance".

Day 11: Tackle closets and storage areas. Much as we’d love to say that you can cram all the stuff you don’t want on display into your closets, the truth is that Buyers will open your closets. They’ll look in your cupboards. The last thing you want is for Buyers to think there isn’t enough storage in your home, so take the time to pack away what you don’t need in the immediate future.

Day 12 + 13: De-clutter, organize and clean the basement and garage. Whether your basement is finished or just a storage area for extra stuff, you’ll need to invest the time to make it look as spacious and clean as possible. What a great two days to rid yourself of all that stuff you never use.

Day 14: The entrance. Most Buyers will have an emotional reaction to your home within 15 seconds of entering it. You want your entrance to be clean, de-cluttered and inviting. You won’t be wearing all your shoes and coats while your home is for sale, so be disciplined and store things away. 

Day 15: Clean the microwave and the oven.