Real Estate: Tips to prepare for the sale
When selling your home you only have one opportunity to make a grand and lasting impression. Whether it is a real estate professional or potential buyer, this first impression on your home’s condition will determine if and when your home will sell. The two fixed constants of a property is first impressions and location. The two variables in selling a home is marketing and price. An agent can put forth and extensive marketing budget and execute a strategy that includes a virtual tour, personalized property website, internet marketing and print, but if the property does not show better than comparable properties on the market, the strategy may fail. In today’s market place it would seem that everyone expects a great deal, and the final contract price is a negotiated one. So when selling your home, you have control of your home’s first impression and selecting a great real estate professional that will have sound familiarity with current market pricing and trends, a comprehensive marketing strategy that obtains maximum results and that will also provide you with sound advice on staging your home.
There are key things that I find are simple but commonly overlooked. The first thing to tackle is paint colors. Although everyone has different tastes in color pallets, neutral colors in all rooms are the most inviting and make the best initial impression, and give the home a new crisp feel which buyers like. Take the time to give the interior and exterior of your home a fresh coat of neutral paint.
The second key area is the kitchen, which most potential buyers rank in the top 3 of areas that are most important to them. You can give the appearance of abundant counter space by clearing off all of your portable appliances, canisters and plants. Also, clear off your refrigerator of magnets, papers, bills or drawings. While your home is on the market keep the inside clean and fresh. I recommend using baking powder to keep it spelling fresh. I cannot tell you how many times potential buyers check inside refrigerators.
The other key area that is sometimes overlooked is landscaping. Simple things like weeds in a garden, or dead plants or trees can give a potential buyer a tainted view. I have received feedback from potential buyers on excellent properties that they were concerned about “how well the home has been kept up” and when I followed up with questions found it was due to the substandard conditions of gardens and landscaping.
Some other tips including scaling down magazine and book collections and collectables; an abundance of these could give the impression of clutter. Additionally, if you have a garage, make sure that it is clean and organized. I have found some homes that had a two or three car garage but had one stall full of boxes and lawn equipment. Always remember that potential buyers won’t appreciate space that they cannot see.
Don’t try to do it on your own. There are many excellent books on home staging. For my listing clients I offer a DVD called “Stage Your Home for Profit” which is distributed by the National Association of Realtors and is a great hour long video on preparing your home for sale.
Jason M. Jakus is a licensed realtor for Leisure American Realty, a full service Real Estate and Property Management company serving the beaches and surrounding areas of Lee County. Their office is located at 2450 Estero Blvd., Fort Myers Beach FL 33931. For more information on this or any other real estate or property management subject contact Jason at 239-463-3178 or email RealtyInfo@LeisureAmerican.com.