Nicole Landry-Milner   |   204-255-4204

The phrase “first impressions last” doesn’t only apply to person-to-person interaction. A buyer’s first impression of your home can make or break their decision to buy it, so cash in on that first impression by making sure your home is in perfect shape! By simply taking time to clean your house and rid it of unnecessary clutter, you are raising the value of your property without hurting your finances. Sound surprising? Not really.

Many real estate professionals maintain that a home’s cleanliness is one of the biggest factors in determining its market value. To make sure that you’ve got all bases covered, Clean Conscience provides us an easy-to-follow cleaning checklist. Check it out:

Here are a couple more points to remember:

• Avoid accidents. You don’t want your buyers to meet an accident (however small) while doing a walkthrough of your home, so make sure to put away children’s or pets’ toys. Watch out for fixtures in your home that may cause accidents as well, such as loose tiles, open drawers or cupboard doors, etc.

• Keep private things private. Before welcoming a buyer to your home, keep in mind to put away your personal effects out of sight, especially in areas like the bedroom and bathroom. These include used clothes/laundry and toiletries such as toothbrushes, shavers, and the like.

• Pay attention to odor-causing areas. Make sure your buyers don’t catch a whiff of something stale in the kitchen or an offensive smell from the bathroom. Remember to scrub the kitchen sink drain to rid it of odor-causing bacteria, and throw stale food away. In the same vein, don’t forget to disinfect and deodorize the bathroom before the buyers come!

It’s not that difficult to earn from a huge investment such as your home if you maintain it well and keep it clean. With these friendly tips, we hope that you will be able to impress your buyers and get them signing papers in no time. Should you feel the need to give your property one last walk-through, don’t forget to take the checklist with you! Good luck, and may first impressions favor you well.

When you make an offer on a home, it’s a smart idea to have a professional home inspector check it out from top to bottom. This inspection will ensure that the property doesn’t have any unexpected “issues”. After all, you don’t want to buy a home only to discover that the roof needs to be replaced, immediately, for thousands of dollars.

That being said, you might question whether you really need to invest the few hundred dollars it costs for a professional home inspection. “The home we want to buy looks like it’s in very good shape,” you might be thinking. “I can’t see anything wrong with it.”

However, a professional home inspector can see things you can’t. When you view a property that’s on the market, you might be able to notice obvious issues, like a crack in the foundation or a dripping faucet. If you’re experienced with home maintenance, you might even notice roofing tiles that look like they’re overdue for replacement.

But you won’t pick up all the issues a home inspector can.

A home inspector will, for example, use a special device to check for moisture build-up in the washrooms – which can be an indication of mould. He or she will also inspect wiring to make sure everything is safe and compliant with the building code.

That’s not all.

Like a determined detective, a home inspector will investigate the property’s structure, electrical and plumbing systems, insulation, and other components — and then report the findings to you.

In the end, a professional home inspection gives you peace-of-mind and protects your investment. So getting one is highly recommended — even for recently built homes.

A good REALTOR® can recommend a trusted home inspector for you.

Looking for more ideas on making smart decisions when buying a home? Call today.