THE PATHWAY TO SELLING:

GETTING YOUR HOME READY FOR SALE

One of the most common questions upcoming sellers ask me is what they must do to prepare their homes for the market. Here are some guidelines that can help you:

A clean home looks well-maintained and creates a welcoming atmosphere for potential buyers. You can achieve this through decluttering and painting, which are not just tasks but investments in your home’s value.

Decluttering. For some, this will be the most time and labor-intensive task. Clutter makes your house look dilapidated and smaller. If you look at a beautifully staged home or a compelling cabin for rental, notice how minimalistic the furnishings are. 

Painting. There’s a great adage: Paint is worth $50 in the can but $1000 on the wall. If you have a hundred projects to get your home ready for sale, few are more compelling than painting if your home needs it. People aren’t buying a house. They are buying a home. Thus, buying is a very emotional purchase. That’s why paint can impact far beyond a “more practical” project like gutters. You may need to replace the gutters, but prioritize the most important tasks first. One of the best deals I got on a home that was in good shape and had dark purple interior walls, and the outside paint was peeling badly.  

First impressions are crucial. Potential buyers form their initial opinions based on the curb appeal and the first rooms they see and smell. Focus on the improvements that move the needle the most, and if you don’t get to that dingy basement, it might not matter as much as you think it does. 

Think strengths. Is your home’s selling point a large backyard? Then lean into that and have it look clean, kept, and fresh. Is it the great room? Then, have that well staged and painted.

Major repairs – I had a client with a house heat pump at the end of life. They were debating replacing it. In their scenario (yours may vary), they elected not to replace it. Here’s why: Every buyer has different things that are important to them. You don’t want to spend $10,000 on a replacement only to find a future buyer who preferred something else repaired or upgraded that wasn’t even on your radar. In the current market conditions, characterized by high construction costs and low home supply, it made sense to let the buyers decide what’s important to them and give them credit or share the replacement cost. As the market shifts, these priorities may change. 

Minor repairs – back to first impressions. Small things leave clues for bigger things. Imagine a potential buyer seeing your home for the first time. If the first thing they see is a leaking gutter by the front door, they think, “If this isn’t maintained, then what else isn’t?” 

Final thoughts: Most buyers are going to do a whole-home inspection. They are more likely than not to find out the major repairs needed for a home. You probably have a good idea of what needs repair and what doesn’t. However, about 20% of the time, sellers are blindsided by something they were unaware of. A new trend arising in popularity is sellers buying a home inspection before their home goes on the market. This might be a good option if you’re concerned about unexpected repairs. Consider a home inspection costs around $800.

Pros: 

1.) Before being under pressure during a buyer’s due diligence, you will be more aware of latent defects (issues in a property that are not immediately apparent but may cause problems in the future). You can make the repairs under your terms.

2.) You can market your home as having a pre-inspection. This can assure anxious buyers, especially with an older home. 

Cons:

1.) If ten home inspectors inspected the same home ten times, they might see 60% of the same things, and 40% would be different. Every inspector sees your house a little differently. Thus, you can discover things a different inspector might not find or raise concerns about. This can needlessly increase anxiety and cost. 

2.) If you learn something negative about your home, you must disclose it to sellers now. 

3.) You might repair something the buyer doesn’t care about. In many scenarios, it makes sense to see what a buyer prioritizes.

Next is OUR FIRST CALL

THE PATHWAY TO SELLING
GETTING YOUR HOME READY FOR SALE (this page)
OUR FIRST CALL
TOUR OF YOUR HOME
PHOTOGRAPHY/MARKETING
TO THE MARKET
REVIEW OFFERS
ACCEPTED OFFER – ESCROW BEGINS
– SELLER’S DISCLOSURE REVIEW PERIOD
– PHYSICAL INSPECTION PERIOD
– LENDER’S APPRAISAL
CLOSING
WHAT CAN CAUSE THE TRANSACTION TO FAIL
SELLER’S FAQ