Happy Monday morning readers! Have you had your caffeine yet today? I have, and I’m ready to prove it with some great facts, some known, and some unknown about selling real estate! When meeting with prospective home sellers, Josh and I do an initial walk through to see the home. We may ask questions such as: What are your favorite features about your home? – or – What, if any, improvements have you made to your home? Then, after the walk through we get hit with the questions from the homeowners. From some of the frequent homeowner questions, I’ve comprised some of the answers into the “Top 7 Home Selling Facts”. Take a second and scroll through – it’s an informative read!
1) You MUST have a clean, and uncluttered home! – Believe it or not, a dirty home can knock hundreds, and thousands of dollars off of your home value. This can be avoided by just a good Spring ( or Summer, Fall, Winter) cleaning! One of the easiest ways to make your home seem more open, and cleanly is to declutter! Box up all of that stuff just sitting around collecting dust! Do you have boxes in the basement that haven’t been touched since the last time you moved.. 10 years ago? Chances are, you probably aren’t going to use it anytime soon – now would be a good time to donate them!
2) Small repairs you’ve been putting off will save you more money to get done, than the price you’ll pay if you don’t fix it! – Do you have that leaky faucet that you’ve just been meaning to fix, but haven’t found the time? Or perhaps that light switch that has quit working. These repairs that you’ve been wanting to complete but haven’t, have the potential to cost you thousands of dollars off of your home profit! It will be a lot less expensive for you in the long run to fix them sooner, rather than later! You may be wondering why it makes such a large difference. After all, it hasn’t bothered you all that much. Buyers are not looking to inherit problems. They are looking to buy a move in ready home, with no move in maintenance required! So get those small problems fixed now, before the buyer wants to start negotiating price!
3) Homes that smell bad, are bad!- This almost falls into the dirty, cluttered home category, but deserves it’s own number! There may not be anything worse than walking into a smelly home! Whether it is from pets, smoking, or unique cooking… bad smells equate to a bad house in a buyers’ mind! Sure, even if they had to deal with a dirty home… a little elbow grease can go a long way! But… a smelly home sticks in a buyer’s mind, and nose! I read somewhere that the way something smells is something we never forget. You do not want a buyer to think of your house as the rotten fish do you? A good carpet shampooer, and some great wax melts can do wonders!
4) Think neutral! – No one loves and appreciates bright colors and uniqueness more than I do, but I have to tell you that is not what a prospective buyer wants to see! Start thinking of sandstone and pastel colors, because this is what everyone looking to buy your home will be expecting. Not the pretty princess pink in your daughter’s room, or the ninja turtle green in your son’s room. A buyer has to walk into your home, and envision it as their own. Make their home, your home in their mind. Buyers really have a hard time doing that with so many crazy colors. So start thinking about ways to revert the home back to the state when you bought it. Think of all of the changes you’ve made to the home to make it yours, and remember that a buyer wants your home, but without the YOU!
5) In this market, closing date will mean it’s moving day too!- Long gone are the days where you would get a full month of possession after closing on your home. When the buyers sign on the dotted line, they may expect to move in that day, or you may get 2-3 days if you’re lucky! When that closing date starts coming quicker and quicker, all of your belongings should be moved out, and packed up… because it just may be that you have to bring that key to the closing table!
6) We are in the digital age, and the Internet sells your home! – Chances are that the first place a buyer will fall in love with your home is online! I hope that isn’t a real shocker to most of you. It is a statistical fact that buyers skip over homes they’ve looked at online because of no photos, limited photos, or poor quality photos. In this day in age over 90% of buyers start their home search online; it is like the old saying goes, “A picture is worth a thousand words”. Buyers want to SEE your home, not read about it.
7) Hard work, dedication, and experience matters! – Just like anything in life, these 3 qualities are key to doing anything well. Having a real estate professional representing you that have all three will ensure that your home gets sold in the shortest amount of time, and for the most money possible. If you don’t have an agent that understands the real estate market and how to negotiate for you – numbers 1-6 do not matter!
Thank you for taking the time to read my article! Selling a home can sometimes be no easy task for the seller! We know that, and it is why we work the hardest for our clients on the front lines, and behind the scenes than anyone else. Our goal is to make your experience in selling, or buying real estate, as easy as possible!
To learn more about us click HERE!
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