Help for Fall Home Sellers!

Amber RandhawaHome Staging, Homeowner and Homebuyer Tips

As you have probably heard, May is the magic month for selling your home, with springtime in general being the best time to hit the market. But what if your life doesn’t happen to follow that exact schedule?  You can absolutely sell your home in the fall and winter months, and we have some tips and suggestions that can make it even easier to attract those off-season buyers!


Keep Up the Curb Appeal

It’s an extra step that you don’t have to take when selling in the spring, but keeping your front yard, driveway and sidewalk free of fallen leaves is an absolute must-do. Use a leaf blower daily and bag all leaves up immediately. Too many leaves obstructing the front view can make even the nicest home look sloppy and unkempt. And don’t forget about your flowerbeds! Remove dead and overgrown flowers and plants and apply a fresh spread of mulch to the beds.

Don’t Overdo the Fall Scents

Believe it or not, some folks don’t particularly care for pumpkin spice everything. Avoid the traditional fall candle and air freshener scents like pumpkin, cinnamon and apple. Instead use the same clean, fresh scents you would gravitate to during the spring. Your home should smell effortlessly clean and not overly perfumed, and you don’t want your buyers to associate your home with only one season out of the year.

Keep Fall Decorating Simple

If you’re trying to sell your home, this is the year to leave the giant Halloween inflatables packed away in the attic. Instead decorate your front entry for fall with a few neutral autumn elements. Chrysanthemums and marigolds are perfect fall flowers, and both are available in yellow – did you know yellow accents tend to help sell homes? Plant these fall beauties in pots and place then along your front sidewalk, then accent with a few uncut pumpkins and gourds.

Maximize Light

In the fall the days are getting shorter, and the amount of natural daylight streaming in to your home lessens.  Open all the blinds and curtains to bring as much light in as possible. Remove area rugs from any rooms where you have hardwood flooring, to better capture the natural effect of sunlight bouncing off the wood. And for any particularly dark corners, pick up a few inexpensive yet tasteful floor lamps. Perhaps most importantly, do not block any windows with furniture or TVs.

Choose (and Display!) the Right Pictures

Do you have a gorgeous shot of your home dusted with a coat of fresh winter snow?  How about a late spring snapshot showing your lawn and flowerbeds in all their glory?  When you’re depersonalizing your space and removing family photos, replace a few with high quality prints of your home’s exterior in different seasons, and place them near the entryway.  Showing prospective buyers how attractive your home is in multiple seasons is a great extra selling point to give you an advantage over your autumn competition.


Check out these prior posts for more seasonal staging tips!

Do’s and Don’ts of Seasonal Decorating

Decorating for Holidays When You are Selling Your Home