All of us would love to place our house on the market and see it receive multiple top offers within a week and be done with the hassle of selling our home. And we all want to believe that we can do this will little or no effort on our part. Funny thing is, rarely, if ever is that the case.
As humans, we surround ourselves with things that we like to look at, sit in, walk on, read, collect,wear, touch and do. This equals clutter, very personalized stuff, pictures, odors from our favorite cooking, odors from our teenagers laundry, hair from our much beloved pets, and the list goes on. When we have lived in a space for a period of time, we lose the ability to see or judge it as a potential buyer would.
Often we have so much stuff that our home appears smaller than it actually is. Perhaps the color orange that our twelve year old daughter "just had to have" on her bedroom walls would be off putting to the general population seeking to "imagine themselves" in our home. Personal pictures remind buyers that they are in someones HOME and can distract them from the process of their "trying the home on to see how it fits". You wouldn't sell your car with all your personal stuff in it if you wanted to get top dollar. To my mind, petrified McDonald's french fries on the floor of the back seat aren't a feature that adds to the value of a vehicle.
Understanding the psyche of the buyer is critical when you begin to merchandise your home for market. Cleaning and de-cluttereing are givens. There are other things that can cost you a great deal of your equity that if addressed properly can curb that loss and maintain your asking price. Things that show as worn and outdated can be a show stopper for many buyers. That includes worn carpet, wood floors that need attention, old vinyl, non-neutral paint colors, old laminate counter-tops, dated finishes and light fixtures. The estimated cost that buyers assign to these things averages about 5-1. Meaning that if it would cost you $100 to fix it, they will reduce their offer by $500 for that item. Providing allowances DOES NOT WORK! First, buyers don't want the hassle of picking out the item and then having to find someone to put it in. They want it done before they buy it and they want it to look good. When they have to do the selecting of materials and trades to install you get a PITA fee on top of reduction for the perceived hassle. PITA stands for Pain In The A**. You get the point.
So yes, it may cost you a bit up front but if you could SPEND no scratch that, invest $5000 to update the look of your home to protect $25000 of your equity would you see that as money well spent? Smart money says you would. There is an old Chinese Proverb that says "Too Soon Old, Too Late Smart!" Hopefully, you can take this information and be a little smarter, a little sooner rather than later after months on market with multiple price reductions.
Choose a good Stager to assist you with this effort. They can help you focus on exactly the right things and help you to get your home show ready. With over 90% of buyers searching online before they call and Agent it is critical that those pictures look amazing and getting the updates and Staging done prior to the virtual tour or brochure pictures is a great way to help get your property the very best chance of selling as fast as possible for the highest price possible.
Trish Pachak, ASP Master
Trish@WeStageColorado.com
http://WeStageColorado.com
"Changing the Face of Colorado Real Estate, One Home at a Time!"
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