Preparing to sell your mobile home this summer? Between organizing, packing, and staging your home, there’s a lot to do. If you feel like you’re running in circles, not knowing where to start, and maybe even forgetting important things, we’re ready to help. Today we rounded up seven super simple strategies to prep your mobile home for a sale.
These seven strategies come in the form of a do-able checklist so you can spend less time worrying and more time getting things done. Let’s get started.
#1 Pack intentionally
When you first start packing to move, naturally, you start with the items that are non-essential. But don’t go overboard. Keep in mind that you’re going to need to keep back enough of items to make your house look cozy and lived-in.
If you plan to stage your home for buyers, you don’t want to end with bare spots in your home. Yes, pack up all the “junk” in your office, but leave enough decor out to give the space a homey look.
#2 Remove personal items
If you’re going to remove things from your home in preparation for showings, let the bulk of what you remove be personal items. Replace pictures of your family with other wall art. Clear off your fridge. Pack away your special decor and furniture pieces.
The idea is to let your potential buyer see a clean slate. Personal items can be distracting. Leave out just enough generic decor and furniture to use in staging. For instance, you might keep out a lego set in your son’s room, a cute blanket on the master bed, and some plants in the living room. Remove any particularly quirky items. Remember to keep the color palette neutral with a few pops of non-neutral here and there.
#3 Store your stuff
In a mobile home, there isn’t much storage space. So instead of stuffing all of the packed boxes into a spare room, it’s probably a good idea to rent a storage unit. Or, if you have a new house lined up already, store your packed boxes there. It’s okay if you’re not ready to move in. Store now, unpack later!
#4 Do the touch-up work
Now that your non-essential items are out of the way, you can do some touch-up work on your mobile home. You might even want to go as far as doing a mini-renovation. Any painting, fixing, or small updates should be accomplished now – after you’ve packed most of your belongings and before you list your home for sale.
#5 Give your curb appeal a boost
Now you can give your full attention to the outside of your mobile home. This is the perfect time to put fresh mulch or rocks around your garden, bushes, and trees. Spruce up the grass with a sprinkler each evening. Go ahead and remove any exterior decor as well. Unless you have a nice summer wreath to hang on your front door and potted plants to place around your front steps, less is more when it comes to outdoor decor. Pull weeds, touch up shabby or chipped paint, and wash the windows. Just a few tweaks can make a big difference.
#6 Fake it
Don’t worry if you feel the need to fake it when it comes to making your mobile home look presentable to a buyer. You don’t actually live like you’re on a magazine cover, of course! But implementing changes that make the home attractive to a buyer is vital. Even if it’s totally impractical for your lifestyle, sometimes you’ll find that even moving furniture around can help with the way the house flows from one room to the next. You might even need to try swapping entire rooms.
#7 Stage your mobile home
Now it’s time to stage your home. You can have a professional do this, but it’s actually easy to do on your own, too. Just make sure a buyer’s first impression is a good one. Create focal points in each room with a particularly pretty piece of decor or a pop of bright color. Leave just enough blank space to help your buyers see the “bones” of the home. Don’t clutter the place with small decor. Instead, use statement pieces.
Style pillows on beds, couches, and chairs, and drape blankets neatly. Style bookshelves minimally. Show off your storage areas. When a buyer opens a closet or cupboard, what do they see? Is it practically bursting with clothing or dishes? Or is it spacious and neat?
Prepping your home for a summer sale
Summer is the ideal time to sell a mobile home, and you’ll probably have a lot of buyers come and view your home. Give them space to imagine their own furniture in there. Help them to visualize what their lives will look like in this place they’ll call home. You can do that by eliminating clutter, sprucing things up, and staging. Who knows, you might be surprised at how fast your home sells this summer.
About EZ Homes Design Team
