While home sales have been pretty hot this winter, it looks like they will get even hotter this spring, with Lowcountry home sellers getting more for their homes than ever before.

Spring is almost always the best season to sell your home, as that is when the largest number of home buyers begin actively searching for a new home. And, if it is still a seller’s market and if you have a place to go, now is a great time to sell your home.

I know a number of sellers who have second homes here who have decided to sell now. Their rational is some version of this: “With all that money that I’ll be making, I’ll use some of it to take an extended vacation here each year during the cold winter months back home.”

With the cost of everything going up (taxes, insurance, maintenance, utilities, lawn care, pest control, etc.), I can see why some folks have decided that they really don’t need to own two homes.

If you are thinking about selling your home in the spring, here are some things to do to make your home stand out from the springtime competition:

• Make your home interior sparkle and shine. Wash the windows, polish the mirrors, let the sunlight in and do some spring cleaning to make your home more inviting.

• Showcase the landscaping. Clean the yard, trim the bushes, cut the tree limbs, and tidy up the lawn to show off the exterior of your home.

• Beautify your home exterior. Remove debris from the roof, clean the gutters, and power wash the driveway for a favorable (outside) first impression.

• Set out attractive, fresh-smelling flowers. Buyers like colorful flowers that suggest the first signs of spring (especially after a long Lowcountry winter). Psychologically, yellow flowers create feelings of happiness.

• Clean and polish the floors. A high gloss on your hard surface floors makes a lasting impression, as does sparkling ceramic and clean, attractive carpeting.

• Use lighter accent colors. Soft spring colors for linens, throws, towels and pillows will lighten and brighten a room.

• Use full-color flyers and professional photography in your marketing. If a picture is worth a thousand words, make sure your print and online advertising is as attractive as it can be – and then flaunt it!

Larry Stoller is a broker and Realtor with Real Estate Five of the Lowcountry. Larry@RealEstateFive.com, RealEstateFive.com, SunCityOpenHouses247.com