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Preparing to Sell Your HomeGetting ready for putting your home on the market, the more you do upfront, the less frustration you will experience during the process. As your agent, I will help to evaluate your home from the perspective of a potential homebuyer and home inspector. We all keep our houses differently when we live in them vs. when we buy them. You will need to change some things about your home to let us market it effectively. I will coach you on the specific items that will need to be addressed. An important element is my pre listing defect inspection. My background in construction, building and home inspection allows me to find defects that you may have missed but the buyer's inspector will not. We need to address these items before you get an offer. I ask that my clients make all major repairs before we market your home. While I can find the more obvious defects, my evaluation is not meant to replace a prelisting inspection by a qualified full time home inspector (which is always recommended). We will want to take a good, long, objective look at your home. You may have to recruit the help of family members or friends who are not afraid to be honest with you. Remember, you live in your home and may not be able to be objective about improvements because you're used to the house the way it is. A clean, uncluttered house that is in good repair is key to selling your home. A fresh coat of paint, for instance, is a great idea. This can make your interior look like new. Relative to the return, painting is an inexpensive and powerful improvement especially if you do it yourself. Be sure to use neutral tones like white, ivory or beige. Next on your list should be to install new switch plates and door knobs. These details can do a lot to dress up a room, especially if the walls are newly painted. If you have wall-to-wall carpeting have it professionally cleaned. If stains remain or the carpet has been damaged, have it replaced. If you do opt to replace carpet, do not put in the highest quality; chances are your buyer will end up replacing it. Wood floors should be cleaned with wood soap and waxed, if possible. Special attention should be directed at the kitchen and bathrooms. These rooms are most important in selling a house and often make or break a sale. The kitchen should be kept clean and tidy. You may consider a new coat of paint and new curtains to brighten it up. In the bathrooms, new shower curtains are a must. You should invest in a new set of towels for each bath and set them out only for prospect visits. * A note about improvements. A deck, porch, landscaping, pool, etc. do not add to the value of your property dollar for dollar. If you spent $20,000 on major improvements, your house is not automatically worth $20,000 more. Considerations must be made for work done that contributes to normal upkeep and that have given "enjoyment" to you and your family. If you added a $5,000 feature 6 years ago you may have gotten $2,500 of "enjoyment" out of it and it may have depreciated by $1,000 (or need $1,000 to make it like new), thus the value to the home would be about $1,500. Crucial to the attraction of potential buyers is the exterior of your home. If you want to attract buyers, you have to have what is known as "curb appeal". Again, give it an objective once over and decide what can be done to make it more inviting. A fresh coat of exterior paint and a well manicured lawn and hedges can improve your home's curb appeal tremendously. If painting the entire exterior is unrealistic for you, then try touching up the trim. Be sure to keep gutters clean and keep the walk clear of debris. You may also wish to plant flowers, add a new walkway or put in a new mail box to top it off. Now that you are ready to show the house you will want to make every walk through count. Just prior to showing the house do your own walk through. In some cases, this may be better described as a "run through", so be sure to keep all quick clean-up supplies in a specific place for short notice visits. Less obvious, but no less important to a prospect, is the atmosphere of your home. Make sure all rooms are neat and tidy, open curtains and turn on as many lights as possible to give a light and airy feel to the rooms. If possible, reduce the amount of furniture in the rooms and store it with a friend, relative or storage facility. Less furnishings will make the rooms appear larger. Baking bread or cookies, or brewing a fresh pot of coffee can fill the house with a warm and cozy aroma. Avoid strong cooking odors like garlic. If you have a fireplace, you can use it to your selling advantage during winter months. In addition, fresh flowers, a bowl of potpourri or scented soaps can give a pleasant fragrance to the bathroom or through the house. *SUBTLE - DO NOT OVERDO FRAGRANCES! Once you are aware of a prospective buyer visit, it is best to leave the agent and prospect alone to tour the house. This way the buyer will be more comfortable asking questions, and it will make things easier on you as well. If you must be home, take the children and pets out for a walk or a car ride. Do whatever it takes to leave the seller alone in your home. If at all possible, try to arrange to leave pets with a friend or neighbor during this time as many people have allergies. Turn televisions and radios off and keep noise to a minimum. The details sell your home!! A few hundred dollars invested in the home now will yield thousands in the long run. Undone maintenance items not only decrease the value of your home many times more then the cost of the repair but also subject your house to additional inspector scrutiny. If the buyers inspector sees a simple item under maintained like a $2 dollar furnace filter, it will be assumed that the house in general is not well kept. |
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