Topic of the Month: Considerations When Listing: Part 5

Making Sure The Home is Ready To Go

Set the home stage! We have the tools to give the property market presence, but something we can’t do is make it look desirable. Sellers that will be living in the property while selling should focus on depersonalizing and decluttering. The idea is that the potential buyers need to be able to “see themselves” living there. If the home is too personalized or cluttered with too many objects and furniture, it can easily throw a wrench into their subconscious desire to be in the home. If the price is at fair market value but the house doesn’t set the right stage, the buyer may not go to the point of top dollar when making an offer. It’s a fine line to have the property staged correctly without over-improving, and with the first impression you need to cause the right reaction in the buyer’s mind. Lastly, clean the house! Almost every car on a sales lot has a fresh wax and wash. Why? Because it may cost the dealer $300 to wash, wax, and detail the inside of a new car, but will usually easily add that much and more to the perceived increased value of do so. Houses are no different.