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Russ Ravary
Best Cities to live in Detroit suburbs
REALTOR®
(248) 310-6239
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Top inside home selling tips - how to get sales ready

Curb appeal gets the home buyers into your Highland Township home, but know you have to get them to love your house.  They say home buyers make up their minds whether they like the house within the first 60 seconds.  So you need your home's interior to standout, to be bright, and cheery.  To be updated and move in ready as possible.  The little repairs and spiffing up you do generally give the biggest increase in value. Concentrate on the three Cs -- clean up, clear out, and cosmetic improvements.
 
If Highland Township home buyers make up their mind if they like your house, then in the first few minutes you want to make your entrance way inviting, charming, and neutral.  You want to appeal to the largest number of Metro Detroit home buyers as possible.  So dark colors, wallpaper, and unusual decor is out.  For example if you went to Africa, or the far east and your front room is covered with African art, or Asian decor you should remove it.  If you are a hunter remove the mounted birds and heads.  If you are into country decor or southwestern decor remove it.   You want your décor to be as minimal as possible.  Buyers need to be able to picture themselves in your home.  They may not be able to do that if Bambi is staring at them, or an African tribal mask is. You want your Wayne, Livingston, or Oakland county home to be appealing to as many people as possible.
 
Clean, scrub, and polish: Your stove, oven, refrigerator, microwave oven, and other appliances should be clean inside and out. Straighten out the laundry room.  Clean the walls, floors, bathtubs, showers, and sinks until they sparkle. By doing this cleaning it will make the house smell better too.  

 
Make cosmetic improvements: Paint your Highland Township home neutral. You want the home to be move in ready.  Painting will bring you the biggest bang for your dollar, It is not expensive if you do it yourself, but select neutral interior colors. You definitely want to avoid bright, bold colors. It's smart to stick to conventional whites, soft pastels, beige, light gray, and other neutral colors. If your basement is dark and gloomy, paint the walls and ceiling a light color.  By painting the basement walls you will also cover up past water stains and some mildew smells.

 
Eliminate odors: Odors are deal killers.  Mold smells, pet odors can run buyers out of the house.  Oakland County home buyers automatically notice smells as soon as they walk through your front door.  Buyers walk in out of the fresh air and wham the smell hits them.  So eliminate those smoke, mildew, and pet odors. Washing walls, painting, cleaning drapes, and carpets helps get rid of odors. Remove ashes from the fireplace. Open the windows air and out the house.  Use products like Lysol that attack the bacteria that cause the smell.  Use air fresheners or citrus-scented potpourri sparingly to keep your house odor free.

 
Fix squeaky doors, loose door knobs, and  drippy faucets: Little things like a broken door knob, leaky faucet, or a door that does not close makes buyers think the house has not been taken care.  Oakland County home buyers love homes that are move in ready.  They want that little repair to do house.  If any of your sinks or bathtubs drain slowly, unclog them. Just as car buyers love to kick tires, some home buyers test houses by flipping light switches, flushing toilets, and running water in sinks and bathtubs to check drains.  

 
De - clutter:  Time to quit being a hoarder.  Eliminating junk, clutter and excess furniture makes rooms appear larger.  We want your home to appear spacious. Get rid of Knick-naks, clear the kitchen counters, dresser tops, bathroom counters.  They should have only 2-3 items on them at the most.  Take everything off the refrigerator.  (including your children's cute drawing)  Store, sell, or give away surplus or bulky furniture. Closet space sells houses too. Clean and organize closets, bookcases, and drawers.

 
De- personalize your Highland home: Take all your family pictures down.  Buyers have to be able to visualize themselves in your home.  Take them off the walls, off the tables, off the dresser.  Your goal is to make your home like a model home.  Your home will sell quicker and for more money if you follow these top inside home selling tips
 
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Disclaimer: All information deemed reliable but not guaranteed. All properties are subject to prior sale, change or withdrawal. Neither listing broker(s) or information provider(s) shall be responsible for any typographical errors, misinformation, misprints and shall be held totally harmless. Listing(s) information is provided for consumers personal, non-commercial use and may not be used for any purpose other than to identify prospective properties consumers may be interested in purchasing. Information on this site was last updated 03/13/2026. The listing information on this page last changed on 03/13/2026. The data relating to real estate for sale on this website comes in part from the Internet Data Exchange program of Delta Media Group MLS (last updated Fri 03/13/2026 12:19:24 AM EST) or RealComp MLS (last updated Fri 03/13/2026 12:16:05 AM EST). Real estate listings held by brokerage firms other than Russ Ravary may be marked with the Internet Data Exchange logo and detailed information about those properties will include the name of the listing broker(s) when required by the MLS. All rights reserved.
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