Preparing Your House For Sale in Auburn, WA … or Anywhere!
As with so many of the good things we want in life, selling a house is just plain hard work. Your house will be examined through a looking glass, so it’s critically important that it be well prepared, well priced, and well represented. Here are just a few of the steps necessary before hanging that For Sale sign:
House Prep
While this sometimes feels like an almost insurmountable task, carefully preparing your house is definitely the first step in successfully selling a home in today’s market. If you’ve ever taken the time to tour carefully staged model homes, you are likely aware that your home must compete on a very high level to quickly sell and pull the numbers you know your house is worth.
Basics
Start with these basic steps:
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Declutter
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Clean the closets
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Depersonalize
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Clean, clean, clean
Your house must sparkle, both inside and out. Remember that you’ll be packing up to move anyway … so start by going through the closets, the cupboards, removing the chatskies that have gathered in the bookcases, shelves and tables, and so on.
And don’t spare the furniture polish and glass cleaner. Dirty windows are definitely deal killers for so many people. They want to see bright clear views of the yard and garden.
Finally, don’t forget the outside! From the front door to the driveway to the fences. Be sure everything is neat and tidy. Bring in fresh bark if needed; mow the lawn; trim the hedges … get it?
Staging
It isn’t always necessary to hire a professional staging company to make your home look like a model home, but it is critical that your home display itself with an eye for design and presentation. If you can’t do this by yourself, at least start by bringing in your real estate broker (that’d be me!) and we’ll go through some use what you have tips to get started. And talk about professional staging, too!
What’s Selling?
Take a look at what’s actually selling in your area. Is your neighborhood still surrounded by foreclosures? How about new construction? Big houses? Smaller houses? Remodels? Each of these factors point to the type of marketing approac
h your home may require.
Pricing
One of the most common comments I hear when sitting with “wannabe” Sellers for the very first time is “The neighbor just sold their house for $$!” In fact, this comment is often the reason we’re sitting together at all. So how did that happen? In part because they knew the numbers.
When pricing your house, remember that your house is being weighed against every other house on the market. Therefore, your house needs to be the best value (in addition to looking the best, of course). You’ll be confident in your house price if you know these numbers:
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Feature & Presentation Comparisons
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$ per Square Foot Comparisons
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Neighborhood Comparisons
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Assessment to Sale Price Comparisons
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Historical Data: Appreciation/Depreciation
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Local Economic Factors
While not all of this data is easy to find, each number plays a role in determining what the optimum sale price of your home should be.
Timing
Yes, timing truly is important, but it’s not the end-all. While you need to know the timing trends for your area, remember that not every house sells only in the Spring and Summer. People have to move all times of the year. Your home may sell faster during the hot moments, but don’t panic if you’re not quite ready when the experts tell you to get going.
Marketing
Presenting your home to potential buyers requires knowledge of how buyers find houses and what they see when they do find it. It’s not just about hanging the sign, it’s about courting the right folks in the right way, and that includes both potential buyers and potential real estate brokers:
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Photos
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Online Presence
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MLS Listing
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Video Tours
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Flyers
When you’re ready to think about selling your home, give me a call. We’ll go through all of the steps and information necessary when preparing your house for sale in Auburn, WA … or Anywhere!
