Selling your home involves more than just hiring a realtor to put up a sign and sticking it on the internet. There are several preparations you should undertake to ensure you receive the best offer within your preferred timeline.
Key Recommendations:
- Repair: Address any visible issues such as cracks in walls, running toilets, or hardwood floors that need refinishing. Attend to exterior elements like fences, gates, shingles, and sidewalks for enhanced curb appeal. Dont forget to Repair soft landscaping issues also! No leaking sprinkers nor trees that need lacing. Everything should look well maintained and move in ready to get the best and most advantageous offers.
- Neutralize: Create a neutral environment to help potential buyers envision themselves in your home. Consider repainting bold colors with neutral tones, replacing worn carpets with high-quality carpeting in bedrooms for added comfort and textural richness. A pop of bold in one area may be a statement piece for a home, but often neutral is the way to go. Get professional feedback before making expensive or big changes.
Preparations: Once your home is clean and updated, enhance its appeal with simple touches like lamps, mirrors, throw rugs, flowers, and decorative items. Proper home preparation can be particularly beneficial for older homes or those with slightly dated exteriors or vacant homes! There is a reason new construction building spend big money and have model homes fully decorated! We are not saying you should go that far, but some soft touches to make a home feel welcoming goes a long way. As real estate agents, We have seen hundreds of buyers walk through homes over the years and its sometimes is the simple things that can add strong value. If your limited on time or funds, focus on the first impression items.. and dont forget to have the windows professionally cleaned! Many sellers forget this detail. Do not skip this.. Best return on money spent out of all preparation items across the board. Sparkling Windows get 700% + return on investment! Finally, focus on Curb appeal to get them in the door, then a welcoming entry and kitchen that exudes love are the most effective selling points to todays buyers.
Also, the right agent will make sure your photos show the sun setting, the lights are on, the flowers blooming and just a home that feels love before you walk in the front door.Home preparation can be particularly useful if your home is especially old or if the exterior might be slightly dated. Think of it as a little mascara and rouge—if it’s done right, you notice the beauty, not the makeup.
See our basic Staging Checklist Link Here.
Additional Considerations
- The ‘Scent’ of your Home: Often overlooked is how does the smell or scent of your home effect the buyers feeling about wanting to purchase or not?? You may think scent doesn’t really matter possibly, but scent is stronger than most people realize.. You dont want strong scents or those cheap plug ins to mask other scents, you want a clean house with a blended arroma to make them want to live there. In the old days they would say bake some fresh bread. Add real vanilla and heat it up, but you can now buy neutral smelling organic natural scents and have a diffuser or other light fragrance that helps a small background feeling to help the buyer want your house vs another without knowing why! Read this article for more ideas: US New Report on Scents when Selling.. I personally love a clean organic citrus or orange oil spray. Or if you have a diffuser, possibly a high end mix of scents. Just don’t go for the chemical coverup smell which is worse and a deterrent that may make people not want your home for some reason they cant figure out. Yep… it may make or break your house getting sold to that one buyer that thought they liked it on the photos but not in person!
- Agent Engagement: Recognize that a significant number of buyers (87% in 2023 from the National Association of Realtors database) use agents when house hunting. Agents play a crucial role in connecting buyers with homes, so it’s essential to ensure your home is effectively marketed to them. Friendly collaboration with your listing agent, participation in brokers’ opens, and promotion at local meetings can boost your property’s visibility. A Brokers Opens is usually much more valuable than a general Open House! Your marketing should be aimed towards them especially.
With so many agents out there, they are the ones you want to get their eyes on your property. Strong agents who have devoted clients may wait until their agent gives them the suggestion to view a property, especially the higher the price you go. Many of the higher end homes have agents scouting off the market properties and network with each other at the local meetings before they tour what just came on the market. Most high end buyers prefer their agent to spend the time and filter out homes for them. And busy agents also want to narrow down the right one that will be a smooth transaction from start to finish. Making it easy for an agent to view without an special appointment before showing their buyers is a smart move. Making your home attractive to other agents is an Intelligent Decision by an Informed Seller. I hope you view marketing your home in a different way from now on.
Professional Advice: In Southern California, we offer onsite, one-on-one advice. Feel free to contact us at (760) 268-0888 or hem@topagentinc.com for personalized assistance.
Remember, creating an attractive and well-marketed home not only appeals to potential buyers but also catches the attention of agents, contributing to a smoother and more successful selling process.
Lastly
Find an agent who gives you numbers and statistics and facts of the market, including past, present, and future so you effectively use that and not a feeling this is what we should do.. On TV the agent may walk into a house and look around and throw out a price, but in the real world numbers and statistics dont lie. The more unique or pricey the home, the more research you will need to not miss the mark and loose critical timing and possible money by being what others view as overpriced.
Yours Truly,
Carin
