Preping Yourself and Your Home for the Market

 

How many have recently attended an open house? Was it enjoyable?...almost like taking a trip to a home show eh..although less grand, way less crowded and less commercialized. When it comes time for you to sell your home, will you be mentally prepared? Many of you will default or defer to your real estate agent to conduct such matters...which is fine but what happens when reality sets in? Here are a few ways to prepare yourself :

• Expect a flood of visitors
• Expect high traffic for the first two weeks: phone calls, showings, agent previewing, last minute showings
• Expect that you'll have strangers in your home, invading your privacy
• Expect to understand that your security can become compromised
• Expect honest and frank feedback, it's business...don't take it personally, you were once buyers and possibly will be again
• Expect to be emotionally detach from your house...so you can see the big picture and avoid regrets.

For those who value privacy and personal space the experience of having strangers come in your home can be rather shocking but it is obvious why you placed your house on the market, right?...To get it sold. If your house isn't easily accessible, i.e. restrictive showing hours, it will not reach its potential dollar value and if you choose not have interior photos, you can guarantee you'll have less showing and potentially less profit.

 

Sometimes, especially when the property is new on the market, open houses can invite a crowd of visitors...where one sales agent alone isn't able to supervise everyone and security measures can become difficult. You, as homeowners, can do a few things to help secure your homes for open houses and while it is on the market:

 

1. Secure your home

• put away personal items: photos
• put away valuables: collectibles, jewelry, money
• if you have an alarm, use it
• secure your beloved pets in a safe location or remove them to a safe location
• put away confidential documents, i.e. credit cards, checks, bank statements, etc.
• put away your prescription drugs

2. Remove undesirable or fowl smells: i.e. strong cooking smells

3. Open the curtains, let in natural lighting and provide ample lighting

4. De-clutter: i.e. halls ways, rooms, closets, etc.

5. Soothing background music

6. Stage your home yourself or hire a professional stager

 

Staging Tips

Deodorizing Tips

Glaring Flaws

In the past, consumers rode the wings of their soaring home equity line of credit. Small ticket repair items seemed unimportant, doable. While big ticket items, such as a roof or siding repairs, stung temporarily, most gambled on their golden ticket of inflated home values to buffer or augment these glaring flaws or more plainly to justify their vanity.

Today, it would seem suicidal to take such a risk. Consumers are looking to have better energy efficient homes, i.e. newer double pane windows, gas stoves and not Barbie fireplaces. They are looking to have minimal repairs. Big ticket repair items will become glaring flaws and the small ticket items the final tipping point. Only to leave the seller minimal protection to shield their profit from the onslaught lists of imperfections. Sellers who once thrived as kings of the hill have become subservient to tight wad buyers or become victims to opportunistic peronas.

What are today's buyers looking for in a house?

• A Clean house, a home well cared for
• Newer Roof, less than 10 years
• No problematic sidings, i.e. Land Pacific (LP) siding (composed of wood scraps and resins & glue)
• Well serviced heaters and furnace
• Newer furnace
• Newer windows, less than 7 years
• New paint
• Newer appliances
• Wood floors, good hypoallergenic environment selling point
• Great lighting, better when it is natural lighting, especially in the Pacific Northwest
• Better insulation, not always thought of but highly recommended
• No moisture damage = no mold problems
• Remodeled, open & spacious kitchen
• Contemporary, classical floor plans with good flow and/or a great room style
• Consistency in the remodels
• Fresh scent, no harsh odors

What should sellers do before marketing their house? Increase the preceived values.

• Manage the Clutter
• Clean the house from top to bottom
• Get a thorough home inspection
• Prioritize the list of repairs
• Work on one room or one area at a time
• Follow the list of repairs that will give the house a face lift, repairs that communicates to buyers the house was well cared for and loved, i.e. new paint, fix leaky faucet, freshen up old dingy grout
• Keep within your budget
• Be consistent in the remodel theme, i.e. avoid mix eras
• Avoid over remodeling, i.e. a Waterford chandelier versus a good quality chandelier
• Keep paperwork & receipts on large ticket repair items, especially when they carry a warranty or guarantee
• Tidy the yard and garden space
• Get rid of house odors, invite an independent and outside nose to take a whiff
• Don't know what else to do? Try visiting open houses for inspirations, see your house from a buyer's perspective and get off the "My house is better than" attitude.