Think back to the first time you went house hunting. What homes appealed to you? How has the process changed and what can you do now to make sure your home is best positioned to sell well.
While it may be a few years — or even decades — since you’ve been in the home-buying market, when you view your home through neutral and impartial eyes it helps identify what upgrades, repairs or changes will make your house stand apart from its competition.
One of the keys to a home showing well, according to Leigh Nunno, is for your home to be a space in which others can envision themselves living. Nunno is a Realtor and associate broker at Melissa Healy Group at Keller Williams Real Estate in Doylestown.
From a fresh coat of paint to neat and tidy surroundings, buyers want to be able to look past your things and see their own on the walls, stacked shelves, filling cupboards and arranged in closets.
“When a buyer is looking at a house they are opening those closet doors and pantry doors. They are looking at the organization and how they could live in the home. It’s not just about room sizes,” Nunno explained.
Nunno said many clients will begin the process at least a year — sometimes two — before they list the home.
“Start systematically going through the entire home — the attic, basement and garage,” she said.
While the ideal approach creates a sorting system of items to donate, sell, recycle and discard make sure those piles aren’t just crafted then left to sit.
Follow through on each pile to move the process forward so the growing sections don’t become overwhelming.
“Purging, organizing and de-cluttering seems to be at the top of the priority list for everyone. Some people are shocked when we tell people we work with them for two years to get ready,” said Jaimie Meehan, also a Realtor at Melissa Healy Group.
She said her team work with companies to pick up furniture and other items and take care of the items disposition — or disposal.
Meehan said during that year or two ahead of listing “we provide (sellers) with resources and a customized plan of attack.”
That can include a fresh coat of paint in a neutral shade, cleaning or replacing worn carpets or other flooring, making or arranging for home repairs and maintenance; deck and patio cleaning or siding or roof repairs or cleaning.
“Starting the process early gives home sellers plenty of time to act,” Meehan said.
Keep receipts handy for any and all home improvement projects and system services like HVAC, or septic maintenance.
The value of seasonal photographs – inside and out
In the era of home sales going digital, pictures have become the MVP ambassadors for home buyers — and sellers.
“The reality is people are looking on their phones at pictures of houses,” Meehan said.
The prep work and longer lead time allows home sellers to capture their homes and properties in the best light — and attract a greater number of prospective home buyers, she said.
Planning a year ahead and working with your Realtor and their team provides the best way to capture those images in advance. How about a green thumb worthy of local garden club envy?
Make sure those spring and summer pictures take best advantage of your fragrant rose blossoms, dahlia blooms and herbaceous perennials.
If your landscape is spectacular with flame red maples and other types of fall foliage make sure those images capture your property’s best assets.
“We can create that customized plan for photos, interior and exterior shots” a year ahead of when the owner is ready to list, Meehan said.
In addition to positioning the current home at its best — and scoring the best sale offers — allowing plenty of planning time means buyers can arrange for financial needs, create their new budget and take care of any monetary issues before they move.
“We often have clients tell us now that their home is ready to sell that they love it! And once these projects are completed it has an impact on their motivation and inspiration,” Meehan said.
Ultimately it gives clients peace of mind and yields the best results.
“We help them by providing resources so selling their home is as manageable as possible,” Meehan said.
Join our readers whose generous donations are making it possible for you to read our news coverage. Help keep local journalism alive and our community strong. Donate today.
