Prepping Your Home For Sale
After lots of years in real estate, I can’t tell you how important it is to prep your home for sale before you put it on the market. Even with a red hot market and little inventory, you WILL get more for your home if you take the time to make it ready for the market. When a Buyer goes out with their realtor, the realtor may have packed the day with 8 or 10 showings. In order to stand out, it is so important to show your property in the best possible light. Many Buyers just don’t have the ability to imagine and it is much better to give it to them rather than rely on your Realtor to explain.
Many realtors use “staged” photos. These are photos that have been “Photoshopped” to add furniture or landscaping that are not actually there. While this is helpful on the MLS, and internet, there is no substitute for a home actually looking fabulous when a Buyer steps in the door. In fact, in some cases, these staged photos can actually harm the sale when the Buyer finally sees the house and it bears little resemblance to the photos.
Moving is stressful. So no need to add more stress to your life. Do what is reasonable and what you can, but the effort will pay off. Here is a “to do” list. Please call me if you need recommendations on any services.
CLEAN
Seriously. This is the most important thing, completely at the top of the list. Psychologically, people have to imagine themselves living in your space. It needs to be super clean. This includes washing windows (which definitely show in the photos), scrubbing bathrooms, floors, appliances, mirrors, light fixtures, ceiling fans, walls, light switches and cabinets. Consider hiring a cleaning company to come with a team and do a deep clean. You will be amazed at the results. Try Prohousekeepers in Miami . Your cleaning should also include sending out carpets to be cleaned or having a service come and steam carpets, washing the curtains and polishing floors. Imagine you are entering a five star hotel room. Your property needs to be that clean with little or no evidence of you.
2. DECLUTTER & DEPERSONALIZE
Okay, so this is obvious, but try to have some fun with it. Marie Kondo has that great series on Netflix on decluttering and organizing your home. It is quite profound. It’s all about confronting what you need to let go and organizing your space so it sparks joy. In this case, you are looking to spark the joy of your Buyer. Just work on containing everything as best you can. Let the whole process cheer you up. Again, you are creating space for the Buyer to imagine herself there. If you can hack it, remove all or most of the appliances from your kitchen counters and all the items from your bathroom sink or vanity. Put away all the personal photos, mementos and memories. Go Zen and allow the space to tell its own story.
3. REPAIR AND REPLACE
It may seem obvious, but these little repairs also make a huge difference as to how your property presents. I once was showing a gorgeous listing and I didn’t realize the door handle was loose to the balcony. A Buyer went to go open the door and the handle came off in his hand. For the owner, this was a one screw fix, but it probably cost him one potential Buyer. Screw in anything loose; loose railings, handles, anything. Repair leaky or broken faucets. Replace torn screens. Replace all burnt out light bulbs. Light is so important. Repair any holes in walls, broken tiles. Consider repainting walls and baseboards. It’s another game changer. Go white! Behr’s Bakery Box is my favorite white. It’s sublime. This all communicates that the person who lived here cared about and loved the property. This can go a long way in getting your property sold for the best price.
4. LANDSCAPE / EXTERIOR
So if you are selling a house or town home, of course, curb appeal is important. How much time and money you invest really depends on the price of the property and what your return will be. But at the very least, go tidy. Cut back anything overgrown. Mulch. Pebble. There are great landscapers like Yardzen that do an incredible job. Or go to Home Depot do it yourself! Pressure-washing the driveway, walk ways and balconies is essential. Adding flowers or color is always good.
5. MAINTAIN
Ok, so this may be the most difficult part for some people, but it is important to maintain the improvements you have made throughout the entire time the property is on the market. Make sure you have a gardener keeping on top of the exterior weekly, watering, cutting the grass, blowing the yard, trimming hedges and doing whatever else needs to be done. Make sure the pool is being properly maintained. Keep the entrance swept and continue to clear any debris or palm frons.
On the inside, if you are still living in the house, it might be smart to hire someone to come clean once a week to keep things looking great.
Taking these steps will go a long way to getting the best price for your property. If you really want to get serious and are in a higher price point, there are staging companies that can do all of this for you. They will bring all the furnishings and a decorator to make your property unrecognizably fabulous. I have had great success with this and was able to sell a condo unit for top dollar when 1/3 of the building was for sale and I had fierce competition. No question, my success had everything to do with the staging which then made my marketing glorious. Staging isn’t cheap, but in this case, it paid for itself many times over. Again, give me a call to discuss what the right option is for your particular property.