We have learned the benefits of staging your home when selling and there is no question is pays off. Your home will look more tidy and clean and, most importantly, provide the potential buyers the ability to picture themselves living there. The reality of that task though, is that you now can't use the kitchen or the bathroom and you're sleeping on the couch because you finally got the comforter on the bed to look just right! The last thing you want to do is mess anything up for the showing coming up (in 3 days!).
OK. Let's slide back into reality. We all have busy lives. Some of you (my condolences) even have small humans running around your home. From what I'm told, they leave a swath of destruction in their wake wherever they roam. If you are raising 4-legged creatures instead (or as well!) they also bring their own chall...
There is a lot to selling a home. Of course, this time of year the "fervor" of the summer selling season has waned a bit. While the market is still rumbling along it is important to have a solid strategy and a reputable, local real estate professional in your corner. Along with that, there are a few little tidbits that we have picked up that I'd love to share today. For the seasoned sellers, some of these will be "old hat". But there's always something we can pick up regardless of how long we have been "in the biz". According to a report from Zillow, over half of today's sellers are selling for the first time! So, let's get started.
First, and honestly the most critical (and unfortunately common) mistake sellers make is putting any (and I mean ANY) stock in the online estimates fo...
One of my favorite sayings for real estate professionals, and a saying (and mindset) that eludes far too many sellers, is this: "I'm contracted to SELL your home, not LIST it". While this may seem like an obvious tenet, what it lacks in complexity it makes up in its lack of broad understanding. If you are serious about selling your home there are a few details to keep at the forefront of your mind. Today I'd like to peel back the curtain a bit and talk about what the true professionals focus on when it comes to listing (and selling!) a property.
One of the primary considerations to understand about the sellers is motivation. Of course there are countless reasons one could have for selling a home. Sometimes there is a new addition to the family. It could be a job or school change that prompt...
We have just finished a moderate upgrade to the kitchen. A new dishwasher, oven and fridge are happily living in that space now. The previous appliances were not entirely "used up" but it was certainly time for a refresh. We also replaced the kitchen sink and faucet. That alone is one of my favorite parts. The old sink was unreasonably shallow and you basically took an unwanted bath every time you washed a large pan.
The kitchen is one of the more important rooms of your home. Today we're going to review some of the biggest offenders in this room and help you make your kitchen more awesome or, at the very least, more attractive to discerning buyers. If nothing else, the kitchen is where your friends and family will spend all of their time during any social event you host. We all tidy up...
Although I've only experienced the joy of these services once, if you can swing it, hiring a moving company to relocate all of your stuff is simply awesome. You are only left with the packing up (which some also offer as an add-on service) and boxing of your items and the rest is left to them. In our case they not only brought the items to the house, they would deliver each item (with our direction) to each room of the home. Obviously marking the boxes ahead of time is a pretty important step. If you decide to treat yourself to this luxury, I wanted to offer a few suggestions to keep yourself (and your stuff) safe from damage.
This advice really goes for any type of service work, but try to avoid paying too big of a deposit up front. Using the strategy of more carrot than stick, it would seem...