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Letter to the editor

Sharp appearances hasten home sales

By ELIZABETH BETTENDORF
Published September 14, 2007

Trish Hilliard knows a thing or two about selling a house in a slumping real estate market.

A professional organizer by trade, she sold her Hyde Park Village home in just three weeks in April.

What's her secret?

Aside from the obvious - such as making sure your home is priced right - these days it really has to look good.

No, not just good, Hilliard advises, but fabulous, "like you're having a guest in your home all the time."

Begin the process by decluttering, even where you think potential buyers won't look. Open your drawers, cabinets and closets and survey what's inside.

"It's a great time to go through everything like your kitchen cabinets," she says. "You don't need to have your entire coffee mug collection in plain view. Just six mugs that match and that you use regularly."

Put away family photos and personal mementos, no matter how sentimental, she explains, "because it makes it harder for someone to visualize the space as their own."

Also, scrutinize overlooked places such as the refrigerator door for visual clutter "like spelling tests or the handyman's phone number."

Ideally, everything should look nice and clean on the surface without distracting a potential buyer.

Even if you like your furniture exactly where it is, use feng shui the ancient Chinese method of arranging objects and furniture to give your home the best appeal.

If your bed would look better at a different angle, now is the time to move it, she says. Get rid of stacks of magazines, empty the bookshelves of excess books and arrange the shelves so that they look appealing.

"You want the furniture placement to be inviting and open, to have nice flow so that people can walk to every corner of the room. You definitely don't want stuff cluttering every corner."

Next, take a hard look at your bathrooms. Even if you actually use those 20 bottles of shampoo in the shower, put them away when you show the house. Don't leave out any consumer goods, especially highly personal items like a toothbrush and toothpaste, which may be inoffensive to you but a turnoff to a complete stranger who is house-hunting.

Make sure your accessories look up to date. Replace old shower curtains and throw rugs and hang new, fluffy white towels to give the bathroom what Hilliard calls a "fresh day-spa look."

Around the rest of the house, don't place more than three objects on a surface area, such as a night stand. A lamp, a beautiful shell and a pretty new candle are all you need next to a bed (neatly stash away those reading glasses, newspapers, knitting and whatever else normally lives at your bedside).

Even though new homeowners will typically repaint as a right of passage, you might want to paint any bright walls in a less personal, more neutral color.

Hilliard also recommends that you take a fresh look at your door areas - front, back and garage - and put away running shoes, gardening clogs or any other clutter. Make sure the front door paint is crisp, the door knocker polished and attractive and that plants are neatly trimmed and pretty.

And finally, Hilliard, who moved to Houston in July with her new husband (you can get more ideas at her Web site, www.simplicityplease.com), recommends lighting lusciously scented candles just before someone comes in to look at your house.

"Only do it if you think it's safe," she says. "But they do make everything smell so good."

Any recommended scent?

It might sound cliched, she said, "but the ones that smell like freshly baked cookies really are inviting."

Pay attention to this woman: She sold her condo in three weeks.

Elizabeth Bettendorf can be reached at ebettendorf@hotmail.com 

[Last modified September 13, 2007, 08:14:49]