Preparing A Home For Market

There's a lot more to selling a house than putting a sign in the yard or listing with a Realtor. There is a whole psychology involved in which you must consider how the house appears to someone who has never seen it before. Not a new concept or even a surprising one, but very important. You must step away from your home and try to view it through a strangers eyes. The little stack of mail that has accumulated by the phone is no longer acceptable. Is there mildew on the ceiling above your shower? Does you sliding door slide smoothly on the track. Are there broken seals in any of your thermal windows? Has it been freshly painted? Does the front door look well maintained or freshly painted? Is the trim on the house freshly painted or at least sealed enough to protect the wood? How does the yard look?

These little things, if they are in good repair, create a sense of a well cared for home. A buyer wants to feel like everything has been tended to or else he will try to make a low offer to compensate for repairs he thinks he needs to make thereby getting you down on the price before any inspections have even been done. This leaves no negotiating room later when the results of the inspections do come in and reveal more repairs that really do need to be made. You will net less on you home if you don't pay attention to the small details.

The matter of updating is another chapter. Depending on how dated the home is, you do have some choices. If you want a quick sale on a home priced at the high end of the market analysis, it is important to have neutral colored carpet, updated kitchen - even if that means having your current countertops re-surfaced with a spray on coating and painting out the dark wood cabinets to save money. You can paint paneling, appliances and even ceramic tile. Update light fixtures with inexpensive, and pretty neutral light fixtures you can find at most home improvement stores. These things will guarantee that you home will sell before the other three in the area that are just like it and not updated. Most buyers just want to move right in and not be bothered with updating.

There are some buyers, though, who want to make the updates themselves. It is still very important to make sure the house appears well taken care of ( like the little old lady's classic car which was only driven to church and back). A spotless, well maintained home will also sell even if it needs some updates

Things that are not so important are how well organized your cabinets and linen closet are. People will be looking inside, so things shouldn't fall out on their heads, but don't waste you time completely cleaning out cabinets and closets if you need to be painting your paneling.

Odor is another extremely important factor in the sales process. A buyer forms an opinion of you home within the first 30 seconds after entering - smell is the first sense he uses to form this opinion. If your home smells of cigarette smoke, dirty laundry, the fish you cooked in your kitchen the night before, or most importantly of a cat box or dog urine, an impression is made which it is nearly impossible to take away. If your home is on the market, you must be prepared to smoke outside, keep all laundry done, don't let dishes pile up in your sink, be careful what you cook, keep the litter box clean (clean once a day or more), and unfortunately, if you have pet urine in your carpeting, you must be prepared to replace the carpeting. Sad to say, there is no quick and inexpensive fix for urine in the carpeting.

A beautiful yard will help sell any home. If you don't have time to update the entire inside, as long as you can keep it clean and well maintained, your yard can help sell the house. Again we go back to impressions. People assume that if you take care of your yard, you take care of your home. Buyer's want to feel secure about their purchase. You can help bring this feeling of security about by simply keeping up your yard. Keep your lawn green and mowed in the summer. Place pretty potted plants around your front door and patio and water them! Don't let a dead plant sit in the pot beside your front door does not bode well for a good first impression. Keep weeds pulled hire neighborhood kids if necessary, but keep up your yard!

I can't stress enough to you that most home purchases are made based on an opinion and an emotional attachment people form in about 15 minutes. Sure, a more thorough investigation is made at some point, but most people know immediately whether they will buy the home. It's funny to hear the conversations as the customers and I drive back to my office to make an offer. Most time while the couple is expounding on the things about the house each person loves, they are also arguing about all the things they remember differently about the property. They most often are making the offer based on the first impression which impacted both of them. That opinion is based on the following factors:

There will always be investors in the market place who are not as affected by the emotional impact of a home. They are impressed by a few factors as well. Most important to them are price and location. If your home has been priced well for its condition - no matter what that condition - and it is in a good location, you can always appeal to the investor market. So, the important factor here is pricing too.

Keep in mind that today's market is particularly difficult for both buyers and sellers. There are 9 homes for every one buyer who is currently looking (a couple counts as one buyer) in the Albuquerque Metro area! This means that inventory is high and demand is low. Buyers literally have hundreds of homes to see in your area and price range. Sellers are frustrated that their home hasn't sold and buyers can't keep track of all the homes they are seeing! Sellers are not bringing their prices down and buyers are making low, low offers. Buyers are walking away from paying what they consider is too much for the house which leaves the house sitting in a growing inventory.

To sell your home in this market, you have to make it stand out in some way. Price it well, decorate the heck out of it, create a stunning yard or just keep it immaculate. Look at you home with a critical eye. What would make you want to buy it again? Did I say price it well?

Of course, if you would like help in selling your home, I hope you will call me. I created Vista Encantada.com Realtors as a company with a soul. Let me show you what I mean!