Facebook
X
Pinterest
Copy Link
The spring market starts to heat up in January, shortly after the holidays. Miss it and you miss the most motivated buyers. Begin working with your real estate agent now to get the guidance you need well in advance of the season. Contact me, and we can work together to ensure you understand the market, know how to prepare your home, and understand the best strategies for selling your house at the best price possible.
When we sit down together, we’ll start by discussing the ways you can make your home more attractive to buyers. The more move-in ready the house is, the more attractive it is to buyers and the more they will be willing to pay. The following are some examples of what steps you may need to take:
- Consider a pre-sale home inspection, which can uncover possible issues that need to be corrected to increase your sale price. As a general rule, repairs or upgrades performed by the seller are significantly less expensive than making those same repairs at the insistence of a potential buyer. By being proactive, you can list at a higher price and avoid deal-breakers or repair demands from buyers later.
- Discuss with me what repairs or upgrades are priorities and how much they will likely increase your home’s value. Together, we can make a plan to address them, prioritizing the most important first. Since we’re starting early, you’ll have time to get them done.
- Address curb appeal. If you have siding that looks worn, consider whether it needs to be replaced or if it can be painted. It may even just need to be pressure-washed to make it look fresh again. A coat of paint on your trim and a new garage door are inexpensive ways to make your house shine. How are the walkways? Are they uneven and need to be repaired or redone? Safe walkways are a must, but if you can add an artistic twist, whether with attractive materials or a unique design, buyers will notice.
- Consider your landscaping. You want your home to look fabulous year-round. Perennial bushes and evergreens combined with a specimen tree with unique bark that shows itself off in the winter are great for those early spring months, combined with early blooming bulbs. As spring continues and trees begin to leaf out, add later spring flowers—perennials and annuals—to beautify the exterior.
- Declutter. This can be one of the hardest parts of moving. Even if you intend to keep everything you have in your home, you will need to pack some things away to create a less cluttered (less lived-in) look. Remove all personal or distinctive items so your buyers can imagine themselves living there, without anything of yours reminding them that it isn’t their house. Rent a storage unit to store your belongings until you move into your new place.
- A few weeks before listing, do a deep clean of the home. Consider hiring a professional service to complete the job. They can clean the place from top to bottom and make it sparkle.
Once your house is ready for selling—with repairs, upgrades, and deep cleaning completed—we’ll stage the home. Then we can begin creating high-quality digital imagery for your listing, including HDR photography and lifestyle videos.
By starting months ahead of time, you’ll have time to get everything done at a leisurely pace while you simultaneously plan where your new home will be. Contact me today so that we can begin.
