If you plan to sell your home in the spring, now is the time to start getting it ready. Spring will be here before you know it, and you don’t want to miss the perfect opportunity because you’re still addressing lingering issues. So, what, exactly, should you be doing to get your house ready? These are 6 ways to prep your home now for the spring real estate market.
Actually, before you prep your house, you need to prep yourself. “Houses are selling at a very fast rate and a lot of people are surprised that they are under contract sooner than they expected,” says Michael Hills, vice president of Brokerage at Atlas Real Estate.
So, this is the time to decide if you really want to move, and if so, get all of your ducks in a row. “If you are looking to move into another house, I recommend having your lender letter available and to start looking at other houses, before your current house is listed on the market, because of the speed at which houses are going under contract.” Prepping yourself also means that you’ll need to change your mindset. It’s no longer “your house,” but instead “a potential buyer’s house” so start emotionally detaching yourself from it.
Remove carpeting
One thing that may slow the sale of your home: carpet. So now is the time to work on getting it up and out. Wall-to-wall carpet can actually be a deal-breaker to some buyers, according to Jaylon Brigham, licensed associate real estate broker at Brown Harris Stevens in New York City, NY.
She says they really hate it in the main room like the living and dining areas. “Many buyers don’t like it, they find it dirty and old fashioned, and it becomes a real distraction from the home’s otherwise wonderful qualities.” As an agent, Brigham says she’s often had clients who wouldn’t get rid of the carpeting and their homes would languish on the market. “But after I finally convince them to remove the carpet and refinish the wood floors underneath, we usually end up with multiple offers.”
Gallery: 14 craft ideas to try at home (Real Homes)
These easy craft ideas will knock boredom on the head
These craft ideas are not only only a great way to keep yourself occupied on a quiet night in, but could bring so much more to your home life. Be it knitting something to wear, upcycling a piece of furniture to decorate your home on a budget, or learning to make soap that you can give to friends – crafting is perfect for personalising a space or gift.
And even if you are a well accomplished baker, knitter, crocheter or gardener, we have loads of extra ideas to add to your crafter-maker arsenal. Staying in and crafting is the new going out after all.
Check out our favourite craft ideas below and while away the hours indoors or even out in the garden. These easy crafts will let you up your crafting game, take your resourcefulness to the next level and hopefully, each will leave you feeling positive and productive too.
1. USE WASHI TAPE TO TRANSFORM FURNITURE
This HAS to be the easiest craft project to try EVER. It’s all just about working out your design, picking your colour scheme and transforming plain furniture and even walls with tape you can easily remove if you don’t like/bore of the result.
2. LEARN HOW TO CROSS STITCH
Yep cross stitch is cool now. And you can get some really lovely kits from places like Etsy and Not on the High Street. It’s relativity easy to learn too and really relaxing once you get into. We love this little spring pattern, it would look so cute wall-mounted once you have finished.
3. START YOUR OWN SOURDOUGH CULTURE
Not sure this would technically count as a craft but we’ve seen loads of people getting into bread making over the last few weeks. How wholesome. So if you want to jump on the bandwagon might we suggest starting a sourdough culture. It’s really easy.
Find a clean empty jar and pour in 75g of flour, it can be plain flour, wholewheat flour, rye, whatever you fancy. Then pour in 75ml of warm water. Stir it and leave in a warm place. Each day add 75g of flour and 75ml of water. After a few days you will start to see bubbles. You can use it as soon as this happens but the flavour won’t be as strong. After a week is good, you can move it to the fridge now too until you want to add it to your baking.
4. CROCHET OR KNIT SOME CUTE CLOTHES
Imagine that you swan outside wearing a cute crochet jumper and everyone is like ‘Oooooh where did you get that?’ ‘I made it my friends, I made it.’ Wool and the Gang have loads of great kits that result in very stylish, not at all grannyish clothes.
5. OR KNIT A STYLISH CHUNKY BLANKET
Chunky knit blankets are still a massive trend and you can really easily knit your own. Ever heard of arm knitting? It’s really quick to learn and you don’t need any needles, just some chunky wool and well… your arm. You can have a blanket finished in just three hours too. There are lots of great guides online, including at RealHomes.com.
6. TRY PAINTING BY NUMBERS
Yes, painting by numbers can be an adult activity too! There are loads of lovely books available that are filled with prints that would be great to frame after you have finished. Painting is such a relaxed way to spend your time and take your mind off everything that is going on in the world. We love this kit from Etsy, easy to do and very chic.
7. UPCYCLE OLD FURNITURE BY PAINTING IT
Painting old furniture really is easy. The beauty of this type of craft is that you can really let your imagination run wild – choose a muted, plain finish if that’s your thing, or try free-hand or stencilled decorations to give each piece a unique look.
8. DECORATE YOUR HOME (AND GARDEN) WITH HOMEMADE BUNTING
Good old bunting. It just lifts your mood doesn’t it, gives your home and garden a sense of occasion, makes a space feel more lovely and homey instantly. And now you might have a bit more time on your hands why not learn how to make bunting yourself. It’s really easy and you can make it with fabric scraps you can find around your home. Find guides at RealHomes.com.
9. PLANT UP A HERB GARDEN
Does gardening count as a craft? We are saying sure, especially if you are planting herbs in a mason jar. All you need to create a blooming herb garden that’s small enough to keep in your kitchen or on a windowsill is some old jars, top soil and either herb seeds or starter plants.
10. MAKE A TERRARIUM
Such an easy, calming, rewarding craft idea – perfect for this time of year but one you can try at any time. You only need very few basic bits of kit to create a simple, pretty display that can sit on a dining or kitchen table, the hall table, in a bedroom or bathroom. Love it!
11. JUMP ON THE MACRAME TREND
Macrame has been taking Instagram by storm over the last year or so. You can’t scroll through without seeing some cool retro living room complete with macrame wall hanging and plant pot holder. It’s a really easy craft to master too, far easier than knitting. There are plenty of guides online, including at RealHomes.com.
12. MAKE SOME NICE SOAP
Making washing your hands every two seconds more enjoyable by making your own soap at home. You will see exactly what goes into it so you know what you are putting on your skin, plus guaranteed whatever soap you make at home will smell amazing. You can buy soap making kits from Amazon and Etsy. The Little Soap Kitchen is a great place to check out too you can also get bath bomb making kits over on their site.
13. GET CREATIVE WITH LEFTOVER PAINT
If you want to give your rooms a quick update but struggling to get your hands on paint, go and have a look in the shed or the loft or wherever you keep your half used cans of paint and see what you can put to use. Over on their Instagram, Dulux have loads of fab easy to follow videos, including how to mix your leftover paint to create colours you love.
14. LEARN HOW TO TIE DYE
This craft idea has really taken over the internet, it would seem everyone is desperate to return to their hippy roots and tie dye everything in sight. Of course we are fully on board, anything that kills an hour or two and upcycles all your white t-shirts sounds good to us. Find a simple guide at RealHomes.com.
15/15 SLIDES
Clean your windows
Another task to take care of before the spring real estate market is making sure your windows are squeaky clean. “If you’re used to living with dirty windows, after a while you probably don’t even notice that you can’t properly see out of them, and half the light is blocked,” says Brigham. If your home is dark, dirty windows make it seem even more bleak. And if your home is bright, Brigham warns you’re doing it a disservice by not showcasing such an important feature. “Do yourself a favor and either clean the windows yourself or hire a service – it’s worth your time and money,” she says.
Spruce up the exterior
Your home’s exterior is just as important as the interior areas, so don’t neglect it when you’re prepping for a spring showing. “One thing people often forget to do is power wash the surroundings of the house, and this could include the siding, walkways, backyard, driveway and garage,” says Ron Abta, San Francisco realtor and founder of Polaris Realty. “Not only will it make your property look cleaner, it will also create an inviting atmosphere – and it shows that you care about the entire home,” he says.
“Basic landscaping and planting fresh shrubs or color flowers can also make a huge difference in the buyer’s attitude when they step into the home.” However, don’t plant too early (unless it’s early season plants and flowers) or a hard freeze could kill them. “Also, it’s a idea to buy a new welcome mat and make sure the doorbell works,” Abta says.
Paint
One of the best ways to make your home appealing is to make sure that it is crisp and clean. And according to Ben Creamer, principal and managing broker of Downtown Realty Company in Chicago, IL, the easiest way to achieve this goal is by adding a fresh coat of neutral paint to the walls. “This creates a calm and pleasing palette for the home, and allows the buyer to more easily envision their own furnishings and décor in the space,” he explains. It also covers all of those nicks, scratches, and imperfections.
Make small fixes
This is also the time to take care of all of those little projects you’ve been putting off. “Make sure all the lightbulbs around the property are working and if you have any potential holes in the wall, fix them,” says Brett Ringelheim, real estate agent at Compass in New York, NY.
He also recommends removing any broken items from the property. “The objective is to make the property look perfect and move in ready.”
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