Tips from a Top Real Estate Marketing Professional
What can you do for fewer than Five Thousand Dollars that can increase the amount of money you get offered for your home? What can you do to sell your home quicker?
Five Top Improvements
With over 20 years experience in real estate marketing, through tough times and good, here is a short list of the home improvements that we have seen actually generate profits when it comes to selling your house.
If you do these, you can expect to reap a 5% to 10% increase in the amount of money you selling a house as is in missouri your home for. Even better, you will be able to sell your home faster. In a difficult market, a home with the right improvements that is presented correctly usually sells in half the time.
Time is money. Money is money. Here is what you can do for five thousand dollars or less!
Let’s start on the front of the house. Your home needs to make a good impression when a potential buyer and agent first arrive. This means clean it up. Clean up any trash or junk on the lawn, get rid of extra cars, bikes, tools, etc. in the driveway.
If you can’t do it yourself, arrange to have a gardener come by once or twice a week to make sure the lawns are mowed, the bushes are trimmed and that everything is watered. If the landscaping in front of your home is a bit sparse, it may make sense to make a trip down to the local landscape center and pick up some pretty flowers and bushes to fill in the empty spots in the front of your home. Fertilizing the lawn can work wonders – that in combination with regular watering can convert your dead and dying lawn into a verdant welcoming mat for a new homeowner.
How about the front door? A good cleaning, repair of dents and nice new coat of paint will help invite the buyers in.
Don’t bother with expensive repairs and remodels. To get the most bang for your buck, if the carpet is worn, replace it with a nice medium grade of neutral color. Wash and clean any marks on the walls.
Painting – nothing is more cost effective than a new coat of paint – especially on the inside of the home. Don’t go wild and crazy with colors. Pick a nice neutral off-white or beige. New paint professionally applied can cover a whole multitude of sins – including nasty stains and smudges, pet and kid damage, nail holes, cracks and holes in the walls. If the paint is faded, or if your home interior has been the victim of some over creative paint decisions, get it painted with a nice neutral – off-white shade. Is your teenager’s room painted black? Fix it. It might take a few coats to lighten it up.
Not only will a freshly painted house smell new and look great, but a nice light color makes the house look bigger. Get your windows professionally cleaned – including the skylights and the windows high up on the wall that you can’t reach. If there any burned out bulbs in the various light fixtures, put in new ones.
If your kitchen appliances are old and worn, consider upgrading them. Don’t purchase the top of the line. Get medium quality white or stainless steel appliances.
In addition, de-clutter the house. Remove everything that you can and just leave the basics. Tables, chairs, lamps, sofa – maybe a bookshelf or two. This can be very difficult for some so it might be advisable to get a friend or family member to come in and be ruthless, packing away all the kids pictures, diplomas, cute artwork, etc. Let them take charge and pack away all the various trophies and knick-knacks that are massed on your shelves and walls. Rent a storage unit and pack it all way until you get your new house. You can live without it. At least for a month or two while your home is on the market.
The more stuff you can pack away and remove the better. You want the house to be a “blank slate” upon which the buyer can project their vision and plans for their new home. Your stuff just gets in the way of their imagination. The less stuff you have in the home, the fewer things you need to clean up, dust, and rearrange when a potential buyer is planning on touring your home. You might want to arrange to have a cleaning person come in once a week to dust and clean up. They may find and clean dirt where you may never thought to look but a buyer will.
Finally, ensure that your home is appealing before the buyers and agents come over.
Make the beds, wash and put away all dirty dishes and pots, pick up any toys, clothes, newspapers that might be sitting around. If you have pets, make sure the house doesn’t smell like them. If you have a cat, clean out the litter box. Open up the windows and turn on the lights. The more light the better. Some additional touches including setting out fresh flowers in a vase and spraying a nice odor in the air – vanilla or baking cookies.
Once the house is set, get the heck out of there. Don’t hang around like a nosy vulture. It turns off buyers and may prevent them from having an honest discussion with their agent, which may turn in your favor.
As you may note, all the above suggestions should total around five thousand dollars or less. In our experience, by making these investments and putting the effort in to clean up your home and properly present it, should greatly cut the amount of time it takes to sell your home and the increase the overall amount you get offered.
