“What should I do to get my home ready to sell?”
A client asked me this a few months ago as she was getting ready to put her home on the market. She had raised her children there and the home was lovingly lived in for sure! I asked her if it was okay to be completely honest. Together we walked around the outside then through the interior of the home. I made a list of projects for both interior and exterior, which ended up being two full notebook pages.
“It’s up to you how much you do, but this is everything I would recommend doing to get your home ready. You live in such a great area, it is worth it to invest in your home.” She had an amazing backyard, a great school district, and a desirable location. I knew that with some renovations and polishing the home would be a hot property. I’ll tell you later how many offers she received.
Just about every seller asks what they should do to get their home ready to sell. Everyone wants to sell their home quickly and for the most money possible. Most sellers realize their home may need some “touching up” to get it ready. If the home has good bones and is in a good area, it may be worthwhile to spend a little to make more. Most buyers do not want to do a lot of renovations. They want a “move in ready” home and they’ll pay for it.
Easy fixes include painting, power washing, trimming hedges, shampooing carpets, and decluttering. My client did all of this and more. She painted the shutters and front door, trimmed trees, mulched the flower beds, power washed the deck, painted much of the interior, had some carpets replaced and some professionally cleaned, and fixed all the little repairs.
Then, the big ticket items, which I think made the biggest difference, were updating the kitchen and main bathroom. Both of these areas were tired and old looking. In the kitchen, she painted the cabinets white, had new countertops and backsplash installed, replaced old appliances with new stainless ones, had new laminate flooring installed, and replaced bulky track lights with recessed lights. She ran the new flooring into the dining room as well. She also updated the bathroom with tile flooring and resurfaced the tub/shower. Everything looked so fresh and new.
The good news is, all her hard work paid off! The home went under contract in two days with over 40 showings and 14 offers (almost all of them over list price).
Investing a little money and effort into your home may mean you get more money out of it when you sell. If you have questions about preparing your home, I’d be happy to walk through and discuss it with you.
