Preparing Your House to Sell - CHEAPLY

Just read a great article by Dian Hymer, a real estate broker with more than 30 years' experience, and a syndicated real estate columnist and author of "House Hunting, The Take-Along Workbook for Home Buyers" and "Startiing Out the Complete Home Buyer's Guide."  I'm going to put her thoughts into my own words to the best of my ability.

Because the young people who are tech savvy and enjoy HGTV and expect a home that is perfect or as she said "turnkey", they want a house to move in today and not have to do any work.  They are busy and are willing to pay a premium for houses that are in prime condition.  However the home seller is also busy, has lived in their home a while and probably it is not in prime condition, possibly needing alot of clean-out and repairs. 

Staging can make the difference between a listing selling or not selling, the time it takes to sell, and the final sales price. 

Sellers, though, are sometimes financially strapped, and they find it hard to accept that by investing in parparing the home for sale, they might get more money for the house.  Fix-up costs can add up quickly.  You need to get an agent who can assist you in prioritizing what really needs to be done, and what can wait.  Your goal must remain:  sell this House in this difficult market.

She tells of a house in Piedmont, California, an affluent city neighboring Oakland, in a very desirable location, which came on the market after years of being lived in with no upgrades.  It was vacant, dark and showed poorly.  The sellers refused to do any work to make it more marketable.  It stayed on the market for months with no one having any interest in it.  Finally they pulled it off the market and started updating:  1) pulled up the carpet to reveal wood floors which were then refinished; 2) painters freshened up the walls with lighter colors, (3  a professional stager brought in furniture, artwork, house plants and other accessories.  They then put the house back on the market, and it sold right away. 

Tip 1:  Get rid of personal possessions in your home.  Declutter!  Almost everyone needs to do this if they've been in their home a few years.  In my case, it would be churches, angels and salt and pepper sets.

Tip 2:  Consider hiring a packer to help sort, pack, donate and recycle items.  Donations might be tax deductible, but get a receipt.  Your agent should be able to recommend someone who can help you with this clearing chore.

Tip 3:  Put away collections of art, personal photos, etc.  I know, it's part of the emotional appeal of your home, but the buyers won't have an emotional connection with your collections; they will see clutter.  You are selling square footage, not collectibles.
   You want people to see the house and not your personal objects.  Whenever we go
on a tour and I stop to look at a painting or a picture on the refrigerator, my boss always says, "Tell them to remove that; it's taking attention away from the house."
Whenever you put a house on the market, don't consider it your home any more, but a piece of merchandise that needs to be shown to its advantage, not to your advantage and likes.  That will help you depersonalize the house so you can detach emotionally; and with less personal property, the home will probably look more spacious.  Bigger is usually always better.

Tip 4:  Spotless  is the word of the day.  Inviting is second.  Bring in new house plants to place in strategic places, such as dark places that need warmth and color, use bromeliads, and in the bathrooms, orchids. 

Tip 5:  If you feel inadequate, hire a stager for a consultation or a proposal for full or partial staging. 

Don't spend an arm and a leg on new tile, new floors, etc., unless you plan to spend a bundle.  I did that back 2002.  New tile in the kitchen and 3 baths, which the new owners took out the first week they lived there.  I hadn't even finished paying for the tiles when they went to the dumpster.  Obviously my taste and theirs were different.  They removed brick walls in the dining room, custom light fixture, laminate floors, etc., and I was glad I did not have the house repainted or recarpeted, because I would have gone with a different style than they liked and wasted more of my money.

So in essence, clear out, clean up and cheer up- and the price might reflect the attention you have given to these details.  It might also speed up the selling schedule.