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Considering selling your house this year? While it remains a sellers market in Midland County, it is always in your best interest to prep your house to appeal to the largest pool of buyers possible. There has been a tough to talk about, but true, constant struggle between sellers who have the "if it isn't broken, don't fix it" mentality, as well as different tastes for color palettes and finishes. A very large pool of buyers carry the HGTV and Pinterest mentality. We want everything shiny, new, trendy, and favor cooler color palettes, especially grays. Several home buyers feel that they do not have the will or ability to do the work or pay for updates out of pocket, and would rather pay a little more for the house and roll it into a mortgage.
So where do we bridge the gap? Simple home staging techniques can make all the difference in the marketability of your home. Some houses are in true need of a renovation and sellers may not always have the will or ability to do so, so you will need to reflect your pricing strategy with its condition. Other houses just need a little TLC to freshen them up and make them feel like a move in or close to move in ready home.
I am happy to meet with you for a sellers consultation and visit your home to determine the best bang for your buck in getting your home ready to sell. I also have the ability to send in a professional home stager (shout out to our stager Emilee at Modern Realty) to get you as show ready as possible.
Here are a few basic tips to start:
1) Declutter and Depersonalize Your Space- this is the hard part. When your home goes on the market, if you plan to continue to occupy the home, you need to keep it show ready at all times. I recommend taking down personal photos and artifacts (which are distracting), removing large unnecessary furniture if you have it (that large hutch with your plates and nick nacks is taking up an awful lot of what the buyer will see as space...and people cant see past these things). Keeping your home as clean as possible also makes the buyers feel as if the home has been loved, well maintained, and makes them feel more trustworthy.
2) Fresh Coat of Paint -Especially if your home has a specific to taste color palette, you will want to return the home to neutral colors that are the preference of the largest pool of buyers. If your home's buyer is sure to be first time home buyer, gray paint with white trim can make them utter the words "Move In Ready". If your homes buyer could appeal to anyone, warmer neutral colors may be the way to go. "Greige" is a nice mix between the popular gray, and beige, to create a warm yet modern feel. Remove nails and screws, patch, and paint for a clean fresh look, and to make the home feel well taken care of.
Not only does neutralizing the paint scheme appeal to more buyers, but the fresh look will cover stains and scuffs and make the home feel less lived in.
3) Clean or Replacing Flooring - Buyers often are extremely critical of flooring. If you have old carpet that appears worn, or if you have had pets in your home, you may want to consider replacing the flooring, at minimum having the carpets cleaned by a professional. Buyers will view any worn or dated flooring as an expense and a hassle they will have to deal with on top of the already grueling process of moving.
4.) A Breath of Fresh Air- Smell is a powerful sense for home buyers. A bad smelling house can absolutely make or break receiving an offer. Fear of never being able to remove the smell or a buyer that doesn't want to bother with the hassle of whatever remediation is necessary to remove a smell. Our top two worse offenders are smoke and pet odor. If you smoke in your home, you are eliminating a large portion of the buying pool. If you are listing your home, discontinue inside smoking, and do the work of remediating the smell. This could include replacing flooring if you have carpet, fresh coat of paint on the walls, an air purifier, airing out the home if weather permits. Some cases even require professional remediation from companies such as ServPro or Service Master Restore. Pet odors also shrink your buying pool, especially to buyers that have allergies or have children with allergies.
For a personalized assessment of getting your home ready for the market, contact me for a free sellers consultation. There are several levels of getting your home ready to list and ultimately the choice is yours on how much work, time, money or all of the above that you are willing or able to do. Without a doubt, the sellers that put in the most effort, receive higher and quicker rewards.
Until we meet again,
Teresa
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