Why Sell With Me
Preparing Your Home
We Know...That The Best Way To Market A Home Begins By Helping The Homeowner Have The Best Possible House.
Here's how we do that:
We firmly believe the best way to market a home begins by ensuring our homeowner has made strategic improvements, where helpful, and perfected the home’s presentation to maximize its marketability. This includes the involvement of our vendors and extensive industry partners where needed. We offer a complimentary consultation with our designer/ stager, a trusted professional with whom we have a great partnership. They will not only advise you on what to do but will also actually work on your place for an entire day at no cost to you, including bringing in staging touches, flowers, and more, as part of our service. We also have a great go-to contractor/handyman we partner with to provide five hours of their time at no charge and at a discount beyond that on anything else needed.
View the links below for information on preparing and staging your home to get the quickest sale with the highest offers.
Staging Checklist
First impressions are everything. I have prepared this checklist to help your property outshine the competition on the days of your photo/video/3D shoot, during open houses and all showings. For further assistance contact me right away and I will arrange a free no obligation walk through with the experts, possibly including contractors, stagers and other valuable service providers.
General
- Turn on all lamps and lights including oven hood, artwork and cabinet lights
- Replace any burned out bulbs
- Turn ceiling fans to their lowest setting
- Sweep driveway and decks
- Remove pet food bowls and toys, and conceal pets
- Fireplaces are terrific props and should be turned on if possible
- Decorative candles may be lit
- Open doors between rooms to give an open feeling and ensure all rooms are included in the tour
- Remove children’s and pet’s toys from all rooms
- Bedding, pillows, comforters and bed skirts should be properly aligned
Bathroom
- All toilet seats should be closed. Shower/bath items should be placed under the sink for the tour
Kitchen
- Clear the island so the tour shows how spacious it is. Small appliances you use every day are OK
- Clear the exterior of the refrigerator of personal items (i.e. magnets, papers, etc.)
- Don’t forget to conceal the garbage
Exterior of Home
- I love pets, but please put dogs in dog runs or garage at the time of the marketing shoot
- Remove all vehicles from the front of the house and the driveway. If possible park at least 2 houses away (for busy streets, please leave your car in front to ensure no one else parks there
- All yard hoses should be neatly coiled
- Make sure there are no trash cans visible on the outside of the home
- Turn on all waterscapes in yards including jacuzzis, ponds and waterfalls
Should You Paint
There are many factors involved in marketing and selling your home. Unfortunately, you can't control most of them. The curb appeal of your home plays a big role in the sales process, and it is one of the things you can have direct control over. You'll never get another chance to make a first impression of how your home looks from the street. If your home exterior needs new paint, potential buyers might not even get out of their car to come in and look. Putting fresh paint on your home, both on the outside and the inside, is usually the one thing you can do that pays off the quickest. You'll get more buyers looking, and they'll like what they see, translating into a better chance for a quick offer at a higher price.
Try to stick with light, neutral colors. These seem to resonate best with buyers. A fresh coat of light gray on interior walls will freshen up your home and make it more marketable.
Simply put, new paint is usually the most profitable improvement you can make when getting your home ready for sale.
The Kitchen
Many experts recommend that you focus on the kitchen first when preparing your home for sale. For many potential buyers, the kitchen is the most important room in the house. Since the kitchen has the power to make or break an offer, you should do everything you can to enhance it before showing your home to buyers. And, most experts agree that next to painting, improvements in the kitchen are the most profitable. Remember though, money you spend here is a cost of selling, you don't want to do a full remodel, but rather take some affordable steps to show what you have in the best possible light.
Start by creating space. You want the kitchen to look large, light and roomy. Clear the counters of all clutter. Take everything you can out of drawers and shelves and move it to storage. You can almost count on buyers opening your drawers and shelves when they come to see your home. What you want them to see is space, and plenty of it, not your old pots and pans. Consider paint. Paint is always the most profitable improvement. A fresh coat of light, neutral color paint on your kitchen walls will make them look spotless and new which is exactly the look you want.
Pay particular attention to the sink. It should be absolutely free of stains and, of course, there should be no leaks or drips! If your faucet looks old and dated, consider replacing it with a new one, it will go a long way towards improving the look of the whole kitchen for very little money.
If your counter tops are looking old and tired, you should consider new ones. Remember to stick with neutral colors, though.
Freshen up the cabinets. Replacing the cabinets is expensive and probably doesn't make sense. However, you can paint them, or put new, modern looking pulls on them for very little money to give them a fresh look. In short, buyers will be quick to notice any shortcomings in your kitchen, so you want to do everything you reasonably can to freshen up your kitchen and give it a new, open, large look.
The Backyard
You only get one chance to make a first impression. When buyers are looking at your home they will usually know almost instantly whether they like it or not. Make sure that by the time they get to looking at the backyard, you keep that great first impression going. Especially during summer months, when buyers will be thinking about barbeques and children playing, the backyard can make an important impression.
If you have a pool or hot tub make sure you keep it looking clean and neat. If your lawn is looking a little weak, some fertilizer and watering will bring back the deep green color. Be sure you mow and edge your lawn frequently until your home is sold. Cut back overgrown shrubs to show more of the exterior of your home. It will look more tidy and also makes the yard look larger. Fences should be in good repair and you should consider staining them. Make sure all latches and hinges are in good working order. If you have a dog, be extra vigilant to keep the “evidence” to a minimum. You can plant a few annuals to add some instant color that looks great. If you have a patio, make sure the furniture is clean and strategically placed. Consider adding some potted plants.
In short, do everything you can to make your back yard look as inviting and large as possible. It could mean the difference between an excited buyer and one with nagging doubts!
Curb Appeal
The condition of your home's exterior is most important when it comes to buyer appeal. The condition of your interior is entirely irrelevant if a prospective buyer won't even get out of their car because they don't like the exterior of it. Inspect the outside grounds. Remove any building materials, scrap wood, discarded household items, etc. from the property. Store garbage cans in the garage or behind the fence.
Check the home from the roof line down.
- Is the roof free and clear from obstructions and moss?
- Are the gutters clear and neatly hung?
- Are the windows clean and free from obstructions (such as overgrown bushes or trees)?
- Are bushes, trees and shrubs neatly pruned?
Inspect the condition of the paint or siding.
- Is it time to power wash the siding?
- Is touch up paint needed?
- Is the front door in good shape with nice paint or stain and door hardware that doesn’t look worn?
Do flower beds need an upgrade?
- Are plants neatly pruned?
- Is the bed free and clear of weeds?
- Is the bed properly mulched?
- Are flowers in bloom?
Keep the lawn neatly groomed.
- Is the lawn free from weeds?
- Is the lawn free from grass clippings?
- Is the lawn neatly edged?
Other things to do.
- Remove all vehicles from the driveway and from in front of the house. Park two houses away on the street, if necessary.
- Are all yard hoses neatly coiled and put away?
- Make sure there are no trash cans visible. Put them in the garage or behind a fence.
- Turn on all water features.
Professional Staging
What clients
Are Saying
Steve worked closely with us in the sale of our home and we would recommend him highly to others looking for a realtor. He recommended and helped us with strategic improvements and staging that resulted in us listing our house above all other comparable houses in our area, and higher than other larger houses on or near our street that had sold recently. Another benefit with working with Steve was the coordination and assistance he provided in arranging for people to work with along the process (contractors to make improvements and updates, carpet cleaners, roofing contractors, and stagers). His marketing was also unique compared to other realtors we had spoken with in that it included a beautiful video, a 3D tour, and extensive marketing literature of the home. The result was multiple offers within days of the initial open house, in spite of being listed the weekend before Thanksgiving! We are very thankful to Steve and everyone on the team for their help and the great work.
