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Getting your home ready to sell

Getting your home ready to sell

 

Wanting to put your home on the market this spring? Here are some tips to bring you top dollar for your home in the shortest amount of time!

Buyers are seeking homes that are requiring the least amount of work and are priced reasonably. They are worn out from selling their previous home don’t want the hassle of renovation. They will most likely be comparing your resale home to the new construction communities such as Lakewalk & Sisters Cove of Mooresville or Trilogy & Covington at Lake Norman in Denver and the Epcon Communities in Mooresville, Cornelius & Huntersville. All these communities have fabulous models that any buyer will fall totally in love with! That’s ultimately your competition. Spring 2018 will be bringing many new resale homes onto the market too. So here’s what you need to do to stand out in the lineup of new listings:

*Get a home inspection prior to listing: It is infinitely cheaper for you to find any issues that might cause trouble down the road.  It is always easier, and cheaper for you to do the repairs and get them out of the way prior to listing! Remember if you find any disastrous issues you don’t want to repair you do need to disclose those issues. It’s better to be open and honest rather than being sued!

*Give your home a facelift: Get rid of dated wallpaper, paint, caulk, & either clean or replace carpet and be sure your home looks good, is clean and smells good. There is an old saying in real estate: “If you can smell it…you won’t sell it!”. Make sure the kitty litter is fresh, or some people will run for the hills at the first sniff of Kitty’s Killer Litter Box. Neutralize colors throughout the home. Popular colors today are Agreeable Grey according to HGTV. So why fight it? Give the consumers what they want. Is that bright pink bedroom worth a lost opportunity to sell your home? Most buyers can not visualize a room that needs neutralizing. Depersonalize personal photos. Buyers can’t feel their family in your home if you have your family STARING at them in photos.

*Declutter & Donate: Buyers get freaked out and will likely not purchase a home that has too much clutter. Clutter also makes a room look smaller. Buyer so love a highly organized closet area and perceive that the home might have been well maintained if the seller gives the impression that they are highly organized.

*Landscape matters BIG TIME!: Buyers can fall in love with your home from the driveway if you have made the effort the be sure your landscape looks good, gutters are cleaned out & flower beds have fresh mulch and has pretty flowered annuals at the front door.  You only get one chance to make a first impression so why not make your front entrance look like it is out of Southern Homes Magazine? BAM, you’ve got their attention before they have even stepped foot in your home.

*Clean the windows or hire a professional: This is more important than you can imagine as it will make your whole house look cleaner and lighter. No buyer likes a dark home. Pull up all the miniblinds for showings and turn on every light.

*Hire a Realtor with only the highest credentials: Many Realtors claim they are #1 in their field. Do your research, read online reviews, research how many years of experience they have. I tell sellers in this day and age that real estate transactions are like running class 4 rapids: don’t try it without a seasoned captain in control!

 

For most people their home is their biggest asset. Why risk selling your home for less than it is worth by overlooking the small details that impress buyers? It is just like selling a car: wouldn’t you make sure there are no issues with the car, and have it detailed before trying to sell? Do yourself a favor and take the time to properly prepare your home for market. It could be the difference between selling your home for top dollar in a snap rather than having to wholesale your home for pennies on the dollar! Good luck this spring! Let me know if I can help you.

by Nadine Wynn

Does Landscape Matter?

Does Landscape Matter?

 

Can you tell what’s going on inside a house just by looking at the outside of a home? Some believe you can! 

While driving through neighborhoods my buyers have noticed there were huge differences in the condition of gardens and lawns.

Some lawns were perfectly manicured as if the home owner plucked each weed with a tweezers every day.  Others looked like a green lunar landscape with weeds and different grass types, clover patches and brown spots everywhere.  As human nature is, the mind starts to wander and theorize why one home owner’s lawn is so meticulous and another looks like a train wreck.  Is one the one home owner with the meticulous lawn also maintaining the interior of the home in the same manner and likewise the train wreck lawn reflective of the interior of the home?  Believe it or not the answer is mostly YES!  One also ponders does the home with the train wreck lawn reflect some sort of distress within the home?  Home buyers are ALWAYS looking for a deal and can spot a distressed home in a nano-second.  How obvious does that foreclosure home down the street stick out with the overgrown weeds, dead patches and faded garden beds that once was someone’s pride and joy?  That home’s appearance is a dead give-away that a deal is to be had on that house!

Sellers frequently overlook the condition of their yard prior to placing their home on the market.  Your first impression to buyers has a huge effect on the overall curb appeal of a home.  When you are selling your house it’s all about getting the highest dollar offers in the least amount of time.  Every detail matters from the weeds in the lawn to the fresh mulch and annuals in the beds.  A freshly painted front door and shutters, to new front door handles light fixtures.  The sure sign of a distressed home are overgrown weeds, the lack of annuals, faded shutters, front doors with aged brass door handles, light fixtures with dead bugs and spider webs and an old worn doormat with mold growing on the sides. The front walkway is stained black from lack of maintenance with weeds growing through the cracks.  The worst signs of distress come when you see weeds growing from the roof gutters.  Now that’s a sure-fire sign of a deal to be had!   This stuff seems pretty obvious when you read it but folks I see this stuff every day.  It’s not rocket science but home owners overlook these details for several reasons: too busy, too broke, divorce, impending short sale or foreclosure or illness.  All those signs signal distress opportunities.

Smart sellers prepare a year in advance in the fall by hiring a professional landscaper company to cultivate their lawn to look its best by spring.  They plant healthy annuals in the early spring, bring in fresh mulch prior to putting the home on the market, power wash the walkways and driveway and have the windows washed regularly while on the market.  Professional landscapers also give your freshly cut lawn that fancy criss-cross pattern that makes you want to say….Oh Yeah!  That home looks awesome!!!

So does your home have the foreclosure look and you were hoping to get top dollar on the market this spring?  Better make a plan and get to work, you’ll be glad you did when you sell your home for top dollar.

By Nadine Wynn