Property Enhancement
The first step to selling your home is to make it show it’s best. We will walk through your home together at the beginning of the process and get an idea of what you need to do to get ready. This can range from simply arranging your belongings to light remodeling in some cases. Each home and seller is unique and there is no cookie cutter answer to what it takes to prepare a home for sale.
Some Things We Might Discuss:
Purging
You are moving anyway so you may as well start packing! If you plan on taking things to charity then now is the time. It may make sense at this point to start packing away extra clothes and things you don’t need on a day to day basis to help de-clutter your home for showing. And you may need to do a dump run or two in the process.
De-personalizing
Buyers walking through your home should stay focused on the floor plan and features of the home. All too often buyers become easily side-tracked in sellers personal lives and once that happens they emotionally feel like they are invading someone’s space. A buyer wants to visualize themselves living in the space and that becomes hard to do when they are reminded that someone else actually lives there. We’re all curious to some degree. Plan on packing up anything that might tell your story - photos, awards, etc.
Staging
I utilize many methods to help in this arena. This can mean simply arranging your things to make your home show it’s best. It can also mean bringing in a staging consultant to make recommendations on removing or adding furniture and accessories (for rent) to showcase your home. In some cases, when a home is empty, sellers opt for full staging of their property.
Pre-Inspection
Depending on the condition and age of your home I may ask that you consider a pre-inspection and/or sewer scope of your home by a license home inspector and sewer scope specialist. Depending on the negotiated requirements of the buyer, they are likely going to ask for a home inspection with the right to ask for repair of material defects not previous disclosed or easily visible from a preview. By having a home inspection conducted prior to listing a home you can first disclose any “now known” defect and price the home accordingly or make repair the defect before it becomes a potential problem that make cause the buyer to blackout of the agreement.
Minor Repairs
Often, there will be small or medium recommended repairs. These are usually things you’ve been “meaning to take care of” for a long time. They are things that distract from the charm and livability of your home. We want a buyer to feel comfortable and concentrate on how much they love your home, not on that unsightly torn vinyl or unpainted wall. These are usually low cost things you can do yourself or hire a handyman to help with.
Remodeling
In some cases a seller is better off making more costly improvements to increase the value or salability of their home. In all cases we will weigh carefully the cost vs benefit of any home improvement you make. I will never recommend you do anything that won’t get you more money or make it more likely that you get a buyer for your home.??No matter what level of preparation is needed you will have my full support. I have access to trusted vendors who do good quality work for reasonable prices. If you need a certain type of contractor or service provider chances are I know one. I can even manage the logistics of the process if you need my help.
Curb Appeal
The view of your home from the street is really the true first impression a potential buyer will have of your home. I will review with you the condition of the exterior landscaping and siding of the home and make suggestions to improve the “curb appeal”. Some buyers will not even look inside a home if they don't care for the condition on the outside.
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