I received a call from a client who is planning to put their home on the market next year in preparation for moving to the custom built home they will have built. I love it when clients or sellers plan that far in advance as it means they’ll be able to do the necessary things to make their home sell quickly at the highest price.
If you’re like my clients and planning to move in 2007, here’s my advice on what you can do in the interim:
- If you don’t have any privacy to your back yard or deck, schedule a meeting now with your favorite landscaper to install several 8-10 ft evergreens or arborvitae. As your budget allows, you might consider adding other landscape beds for better appearance. Talking to them now, will mean you can be first in line for the work to be done next spring. It’s my opinion that the money spent on landscaping will have a very high rate of return when selling.
- Hire a home inspector to give your home the same inspection as your potential buyers will have done. Do this 2-3 months in advance so you have plenty of time to fix the items the inspector notes. This may cost you around $300-$400 (depending on the size of your home). With these repairs out of the way, you’ll have less concern when your home actually goes into contract. Plus, you’ll be able to let buyers know that you’ve already had an inspection done and made all repairs. That will reduce the “fear of the unknown” for the buyers, and may cause them to select your home versus another one.
- Hire a professional home stager to make recommendations or to help you make changes to the interior to best position it for a quicker sale. Stagers are similar to interior decorators, and yet they don’t give advice in the same way. Their goal is to present your home for a sale. So they’re more likely to de-personalize the house or to give advice on whether the worn carpet or vinyl needs to be replaced.
If the buyer’s market continues into next year, following these three steps will mean your house is 3-Steps ahead of the competition!
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