Once you have set the price, your next step in the journey is preparing your property so that it looks attractive to buyers. Ideally, you want your home to look like a showcase.
This is more important than you might think. REALTORS® repeatedly find that people can’t visualize the potential of a home. They have to actually see it. That means that how your home shows — today — is how people see themselves in it. They can’t see past the chips, leaks, clutter and stains. In fact, they tend to focus even more on those things.
THE THREE R’S OF PREPARING YOUR HOME FOR SALE
REMOVE
Get rid of as much clutter as possible. Give it away, donate it to a local charity, sell it at a garage sale, put it in storage, or throw it out. Just get it out of the house. You want your home to look spacious and tidy.
REPAIR
Chipped paint, cracked tiles, squeaky hinges, leaky faucets. Fix everything you can. If you need a contractor, I will recommend local professionals and coordinate the repairs.
RENEW
Clean, clean and clean again. (It’s that important!) You want your home to look guest-ready. Organize each room so that it looks like a showcase. A fresh coat of paint can go a long way to dramatically improving the look. We will achieve this with the help of local cleaning teams and stagers that I have successfully worked with in the past.
Sound overwhelming? You don’t need to do it overnight. I will point you in the right direction, or if you prefer, take everything off of your hands by scheduling and coordinating with the appropriate trades
And here’s good news: Everything you remove, clean or repair helps to sell your home faster and for a better price. It’s like getting paid to do it!
CONSIDER STAGING
You never get a second chance to make a first great impression. This is the truth, and the reason why staging is crucial. You may think that buyers be able to see your home’s full potential or easily envision themselves living in your space, but 99% of the time, they can’t. We need to make it easy for them, and that involves staging.
According to the National Association of REALTORS®, staged homes sell 49% faster and for 7-11% more money. In fact, you can expect nearly half (49%) of the buyers to be positively impacted if your home is staged.
WHAT A STAGER ACTUALLY DOES
1) THE INSPECTION – The will go through your house and make recommendations on what needs to be done.
2) THE WORK – They will sit down with us at length and we’ll make a plan together. They will divide the work up and help us make a plan to get it all done in time for the listing launch date. Yes, they can help you pack, or delegate to a professional organizer if necessary.
3) THE SHOWCASING – This is when the home stagers really earn their value. They will work their magic ad showcase the property’s best features.