It's almost spring and you know what that means, prime selling season! How to best prepare your home to move quickly in today's market.
There is a lot that goes into selling your home. It's much more than paint touch-up and cleaning. This is the time that people will be looking for any reason to negotiate your price. Don't give it to them! We often meet with our sellers a month before we actually go live on the market. Our average days on the market is low, really low. It's not because we are listing below value, it's because we are coaching and guiding sellers to do the right things for the best possible impression.
What does this mean?
You should be preparing your home like your wedding day.
You get one chance to make a first impression. Have you ever met a bride that said, "well, my hair is clean enough for the wedding, let's skip the wash" or, "Do I really need a manicure, there is paint on 7/10 nails".
I don't think so!
When the sign goes in the yard, your home should be perfect. Landscaping complete, windows washed, curtains and linens cleaned, trim and walls painted, planters planted, front door mat fresh, fridge cleaned out, closets purged, etc. Every single space. I'm not kidding.
Would you ever go on a first date without brushing your teeth and taking a shower? Nope, not a chance.
The showing on your house is actually the 2nd impression. Buyers are evaluating your home before they ever step foot though the door. Online photos and virtual tours are critical. If you miss the mark here, people will skip setting up an appointment. We will get to this in another post, but there are a ton of "dos and don'ts" for photos.
Here are some quick tips that are a must before our sellers list their home with KTG:
1. Clean, like really clean. Move furniture, rugs, etc. Get down and dirty.
2. Wash your windows! Nothing shows worse than when the sun enters a room and it looks like a herd of wild animals attacked your glass.
3. Remove at least 50% of your things. Unless you live in a completely minimalist world, there are things to take down. Box them and protect them for the new home. You are moving them already, so start now.
4. Invest on the curb appeal and landscaping. I know this is a tricky time of the year, but you can still do yard clean up and mulch. It will make a world of difference. The walk to the front door is like walking down the aisle at your wedding. All eyes are on you. Make them gasp!
5. Neutralize your home. Think about the new buyer. They may not love your taxidermy collection or excessive number of beanie babies. Also, think about paint colors - you need to appeal to all demographics. You know what doesn't ever fight with people. Neutral Walls.
6. Pay attention to fine details (we can discuss this when we walk your home).
So are you ready? Let's do this!
