AS THE OLD SAYING GOES, YOU NEVER GET A SECOND CHANCE TO MAKE A FIRST IMPRESSION. THE SAME HOLDS TRUE IN SELLING YOUR HOME.

Selling Your Home?

As your Real Estate Agent, my number one goal is to help you achieve yours. I make it my priority to understand your situation when it comes to selling your home, so we can accomplish your goals.

Selling your home is all about knowing the local housing market. Pricing your home correctly is crucial to maximizing the highest selling price possible. As an area expert, I can help determine what direction the market is trending, so you can make the right choices when it comes to selling your home to get the highest price possible!

At What Point Should You Contact a Realtor About Selling Your House?

Selling your home is an experience that will bring you a range of emotions and one of them is uncertainty as you scramble to get everything in order. That’s why you’re going to need a professional to guide you.

It turns out you should contact a realtor 30 to 60 days before putting your home on the market. About 90 to 120 days can be too premature, as the markets shift and volatility can change your home selling plan.

Make Sure You Are Prepared Before Contacting An Agent

When you’re getting the urge to sell your home, there is a list of things you should do before contacting a realtor about selling your house.

It starts with assessing your finances: can you cover commission fees, hidden costs, repairs? Are you aware of any home improvements that need attention?

Tips To Improve Your Home's Value in 2022

Wondering how to increase the value of your home? Maybe you're getting ready to sell, or just looking to make some upgrades that will hold their value. Whatever, your reason is it is essential to consider ROI (return on investment) for the projects you take on.

You don't want to end up spending more on improvements than you'll get back when you sell. Below, you'll find some of the most cost-effective things you can do to improve your home's value, while also ensuring a healthy return on your investment.

Increase Usable Square Footage

They say "location, location, location". But after that, square footage is what matters to many buyers.

When real estate agents and prospective buyers pull comps (comparable sales) to see if the home's value aligns with the asking price, this is a significant factor.

Finishing a basement or attic, tearing out a wall in a closed-off home, adding a bathroom, or changing the layout can add extra living space or at least make the home feel bigger.

Although these projects are a great way to add value, they also take a lot of work and aren't the types of projects most people want to DIY (do it yourself). Unless you have a lot of remodeling experience, it's probably better to leave the renovations to a professional.

Small Changes Can Add Up To A Big Difference

The little things matter. Compared to remodeling your kitchen or installing hardwood floors, it's relatively inexpensive to:

Add a new coat of paint or change loud paint colors.

New stain for your deck, fence, cabinets, or any other area where wood is looking worn.

Update dated light fixtures, knobs, ceiling fans, and hooks.

Make small improvements to add energy efficiency. Sometimes it's just a matter of replacing weather stripping or upgrading to more efficient LED lighting.

Get Your Finances In Order

These extra costs can be:

Closing Costs: The most significant hidden expense is the closing costs.

Renovations: Depending on your home's size and age, what you're repairing can be $500 or $5,000, or more.

Extra help: During the renovation process, you may find you need a contractor to help you. Instead of repairing the kitchen sink for yourself with $100 in parts, you realize you need new pipes and will have to pay $1,000 to $3,500 in labor costs, which becomes the installation fee you did not plan to spend.

Moral of the story so far is that your finances must be in order before contacting a realtor to sell your home to avoid surprises.

Declutter 1/3 of your Belongings

Removing unwanted items and tidying up your home before the buyer’s walkthrough can increase the value of your home.

Five tips for decluttering include:

1) Spruce up ever room that looks claustrophobic.

2) Clean the kitchen and bathrooms.

3) Depersonalize by having minimal family and personal photos.

4) Hide away kids belongings and pet toys.

5) Stage all rooms and areas with a minimalist mindset. - less is more

When the buyers walk into your home, they need an easy pathway. When they turn the corner, it needs to be easy on the eyes, giving them the impression that there is more space.

Once you declutter, change the lighting to exaggerate the room’s best qualities and dim the lowest points.

Make All the Repairs You Have Put Off

Consumer Housing Trends Report revealed that a quarter of sellers said their home improvements took longer than expected. The kitchen, bathroom, redecorating, replacing or repairing the roof, and replacing appliances extended more than the seller anticipated.

The report also states 73% of sellers make at least one improvement before selling, and the average is 2.7 improvements. It means there is a high possibility making repairs will occur, no matter what.

A vast majority of sellers, about 95%, state their experience was stressful. Regarding the same 95%, 53% from the report stated that making improvements or preparing the house for sale contributed to the stress and the bigger the fixer upper the higher the stress levels.

With this in mind, you must not allow repairs and improvements to finish at the last minute, making the experience worse.

Do A Deep Cleaning

You could be in your home all day, but a client may see something you haven’t noticed that turns them off during an open house.

It should go without saying, but yes, you can increase the value of your home with only a little elbow grease plus the cost of some sponges, gloves, and cleaner. And now more than ever, homebuyers want a home that feels clean and safe.

Clean your hardwood floors, vacuum your carpet, power wash the driveway—deep clean anything the buyer’s eyes will come into contact with to give that new home look. To save time, hire a service to clean your home for a professional, clean finish.

Removing items that look out of place, changing curtains, and removing dusty objects are welcomed too. The main goal is to make the home look brand new.

Improve Your Outdoor Space - Curb Appeal

When people talk about adding value to their home, you often hear curb appeal, but don't forget the backyard (or the sides). These may not be the first thing that attracts homebuyers, but they might be the deciding factor between them making an offer for your home or someone else's. But whatever you do, really weigh the pros and cons before you add expensive features like a swimming pool. While buyers in some markets see pools as a major plus, others don't want the added expense, ongoing maintenance, or potential liability. According to the Remodeling Impact Report from the National Association of Realtors, you'll only get a 43% return on your swimming pool investment when you sell.

A little landscaping, patio furniture staging, adding a nice BBQ patio, or fixing cracked concrete should do it for the average home.

Minor Kitchen Remodel or Bathroom Remodel

A small kitchen or bath remodel can increase the value of your home, but the keyword here is "small". Major remodels and upgrades may be nice, but they are also unlikely to get a high return on the investment you put in.

Replacing the hardware on bathroom cabinets is a low-cost way to modernize the space that does not require much labor or skill. You might also consider adding shelving or hooks if the bathroom is in need of extra storage space.

While replacing the entire sink and countertop might not be in the budget, swapping out the faucet can make a big difference in the appearance of the space. If you're handy with basic plumbing, you might even be able to make this upgrade yourself and save on labor costs. Some of the more complicated upgrades such as installing new tile or a new toilet are likely best left to a professional.

Home improvement ideas like this won't add multiple thousands of dollars to your home's value, but they can give your home a slight value bump and increase your selling desirability.

Move furniture and appliances. Take out personal items and clean out drawers.

Improve Lighting

If you're able to increase natural light, do so. Open blinds, clean your windows, and strategically place mirrors to reflect the natural light. It is also important to consider lighting when photographing and showing your home. You want to be sure the buyers see the home in its best light. Choosing brighter bulbs is another way to increase the amount of light in your home. Before you run to the store and buy 50 LED bulbs, consider purchasing a few different types of bulbs to see which type of lighting looks most inviting. The type of light can really make a big difference.

Helpful tip:

While planning your home renovations, be sure that you don't take on too much, or you may end up with projects you can't finish. Overwhelming yourself leads to half-done and poor-quality work that will not increase the value of your home.

Take it slow or choose to hire a team of professionals that can knock out your list of renovations quickly and efficiently.

Skip the Renovation Hassle by Selling Your Home Fast, As-is

You have many options available when looking to increase your home's value, but it's essential to consider the costs. Will you increase the home's value enough to make up for the cost of the improvements?

If you can do it yourself, then the answer may be yes since you won't have to pay for labor. But even then, you must factor in the time and the risk of the DIY (do it yourself) going wrong. A recent study of 2,000 homeowners who chose the DIY route revealed that 63 percent regretted their decision. There's no need to spend time, money, or energy on projects that have no guarantee they'll increase your selling price.

Things to Consider

Accurate pricing is key to get as many people as possible to tour and make offers on your home, especially when you first list your home. There’s a current pool of buyers waiting for new listings to hit the market, which is why accurate pricing and staging your home properly is crucial.

Things to Think About When Selling Your Home

Once we’ve determined the price, I can give you advice about the little things that you can do to stage your home to get you the highest possible price! You’d be surprised by the simple measures you can take to dress up your home to attract more qualified buyers. What is staging anyway? Staging is the process of enhancing the impression a prospective buyer has about your home. Staging is about removing things from your home that make it look smaller, drab or dated. If differs from decorating because decorating involves bringing things into the home to enhance the look of it. Staging provided free by REMAX FIRST REALTY SISTERS

I have a marketing plan that is designed to get maximum exposure to the buyers that are currently looking, and all agents that have buyers. Through pricing, staging, agent accessibility, and visibility, both on and offline, I can successfully sell your home to help you achieve your goals.

Curious about what’s happening in your neighborhood? You can create a custom market report to see what’s active, under contract, and sold in your neighborhood!

Considering selling or refinancing your home? Get an INSTANT property valuation now!