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How to Prep Your Home for the Spring Selling Season
You may be thinking about selling your home, perhaps not now, but sometime in the near future. Either way, it’s never too early to start prepping your home to sell. Let’s take a look a checklist for success – a guide to get your home in move-in condition with these basic, budget-friendly steps.
Basic interior and exterior repairs and updates – these often go overlooked when we’re living in our homes – it’s what we are used to living with. But to a buyer, they are evident and could be a turnoff. Touch up any obvious cosmetic damage, such as holes or dents in the walls, peeling paint, water damage, or cracked windows and tiles. Switch out dated light fixtures, especially in the kitchen and bathrooms with more contemporary styles.
Cleaning and decluttering – this goes a long way. Obviously you’re moving, so start purging and packing. Stow away personal photos, collections, and any knick-knacks you’re taking with you. Remove unnecessary, dated, and larger furniture pieces that make a room feel dark and cramped. Donate or sell unwanted items. I highly recommend hiring a professional cleaning service to make your home shine and smell fresh. This will take a load off of you, leaving more time for getting your home show ready.
Refresh and brighten any spaces that could use a facelift. Freshen walls with neutral paint, remove dark, heavy curtains to let more natural light in and spotlight the windows. If carpeting is worn and stained, consider replacing it, and polish or refinish dull, worn wood floors.
Return rooms to their original purpose to match buyers’ needs – During the pandemic with so many of us working from home, bedrooms may have been repurposed into offices. It may be time to convert it back – style your office with a bed, night stand, and small desk so buyers are able to visualize spaces they seek while still giving you a place to work.
Your Real Estate Agent may suggest consulting with a professional home stager who will have an objective eye and knowledge of what appeals to today’s buyers. The stager can suggest solutions for furniture placement, wall color, and complementary modern accessories to make your home inviting for prospective buyers. Contact me for a no obligation consultation to help get you started!
(content courtesy of Styled, Staged, and Sold – nar.realtor/blogs)
Local Market Overview
As we saw in 2018, the challenge with low inventory of homes on the market was evident. This challenge remains as we kick into 2019. Buyers are waiting on the sidelines for new inventory to be introduced; and if the property is priced correctly, buyers can be prepared for that property to sell quickly and/or receive multiple offers. If you think the house checks most of your boxes, don’t wait – call your Realtor to schedule an appointment to see it immediately. As noted in a recent market report provided by BHG Rand Realty, “Going forward, we believe that the market is still poised for growth. Sales are falling mostly due to a lack of supply, not a lack of demand. Essentially, the market needs more “fuel for the fire” – more viable inventory for the buyers who are looking. And that might be happening: regional single‑family home inventory was up almost 10% from last year, rising for the second quarter in a row after 25 straight quarters of year‑on‑year declines. This makes some economic sense, of course, since we would expect that sustained price appreciation over a period of time should tempt more homeowners into the market. The question is whether buyer demand is strong enough to continue driving price appreciation, even while absorbing this increased inventory. Ultimately, we believe that the region is still growing as a seller’s market, which should allow for both increases in sales and prices in what will be a robust spring market.”
Are you thinking about selling and curious to hear what your home may be worth in today’s market? Contact me so we can chat.
