Spring is in the air! The real estate market is beginning to warm up. Many home sellers are embarking on the daunting task of prepping their home for a spring/summer sale. Traditionally, these warmer months bring increased energy to the Flagstaff real estate market. According to NAAR’s 2019 Profile of Home Staging, “When staging a home… 39 percent of respondents stated that staging a home increased the dollar value of the home between 1 and 10 percent.”
De-Cluttering, De-Personalizing
If you do anything, do this! There is nothing worse than a cluttered home! Disorder and chaos can turn off a buyer in a matter of seconds. Creating the right impression, the right feeling, is one way to entice a buyer to consider making an offer. Furthermore, when prospective buyers walk through your home, they are likely to be uncomfortable seeing your personal family photos. “Why is this?” you may ask. It’s because the buyer needs to be able to picture the home as his or her own. Your personal photos may serve as a distraction during the home preview. Your realtor can steer you in the right direction with regards to what personal items you should keep out and what items should be removed during the staging process.
Making it Shine
Now that you have the home cleared, it is time to clean! Who doesn’t like a clean house? Am I right? I am. Cleanliness is key to getting the buyer feeling at ease and comfortable. Focus on the rooms in which buyers are most interested: living room, master bedroom/bath, kitchen, etc… And don’t forget the windows! Not only do clean windows improve the home’s photography, but they help bring in the light. When buyers discuss what they want in a home, the amount of light entering a home is right up there behind location. Let there be light! Finally, reduce curious odors. We always recommend that the home have a neutral and clean scent. While they may smell very good and you might like them, stay away from candles and artificial scents.
Enhancing Curb Appeal
Your buyer begins judging before they even enter the front door! This is why freshening up the front yard is just as important as the interior. My first tip: add a fresh coat of colored paint to that front door. This little, inexpensive, facelift really works, and it absolutely delivers a return on your sweat investment. Spend an afternoon releasing some stress by gardening and getting the yard looking nice. Just as you did with the interior, remove all clutter from the exterior, such as pots, furniture, etc. Decks and entry areas should be open, spacious and crisp. If you are okay with spending a little extra, it may be worth it to hire a local landscaping company. You can discuss these ideas with your realtor.
Invest in a Pre-Listing Home Inspection
One of my favorite tips is the pre-listing home inspection. At some point you will go under contract with a buyer and you want to be as prepared as possible! Getting a licensed home inspector to inspect your home prior to listing will help you to know what is likely to come up on this future report. You not only will know what to get started on fixing, but you will also have an upper hand in negotiations – especially if you provide the buyer with the inspection up front. This instills trust between you and the buyer from the start. Also, the buyer won’t be able to come back later and ask for a laundry list of items to be fixed (or ask for exorbitant monetary credits). In my experience, this one step has saved a lot of headaches for buyer and seller (and realtor) during the transaction process.
With these few inexpensive tips, you now have an idea of what needs to be done to get your home ready for sale. It is important to contact your experienced local real estate agent, who can further advise and give guidance on how to navigate the pre-listing process. Happy Selling! FBN
By Blake Cain
