Someone asked me how long it takes to prepare a property for sale. The usual answer is “It depends”. For the benefit of potential sellers, this should give you an idea of the process.
ONE DAY
The shortest period of time I enjoyed from start to finish was just one day.
I was lucky enough to get a call from a couple who said they wanted to talk with me about selling their home in Alameda CA. We set up a meeting that very afternoon. And when I arrived, they said they were ready to sign the listing agreement (this was before Docusign, so thank goodness I had the listing agreement and other documents printed ahead of time). Even better, the house was pristine, and show-ready. And they wanted to get it on the market as soon as possible..meaning, that same day!
While they were filling out their disclosures, I took several pictures. Thankfully, there was enough light and my pictures came out great. By that evening, I had uploaded the listing on the MLS, complete with pictures. Set up the photos on other sites like Craigslist, and scheduled the brokers tour and open house the same week.
THREE WEEKS
A new client was in town. We chatted in the morning, set up an appointment that afternoon. Thankfully, I had enough time to prepare a CMA (comparable market analysis) and listing presentation to give to him. The next day, on New Year’s Eve, we had a signed listing agreement.
But this one took a little longer….here are some of the things we needed to do
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First, the house was chockful of furnishings. It was also dated and very dirty. It had to be packed up and emptied. Off to the liquidators, Goodwill, Salvation Army.
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Then the house was inspected. We identified, repaired and resolved many things per the reports.
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The cleaners and maintenance crew came. To save time and money, it wasn’t practical to recarpet the house, so the simple solution was to stretch then shampoo the carpet. Kitchen cabinets were repainted. Touch-ups. Deep-cleaning inside and out. Pressure washing patio and deck.
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We had to wait for the carpets to dry before staging the property. By the way, I like what my stager said about preparing a house -- it's like a choice between a plain cake and one decorated cake. Which one is eye-candy and will appeal more?
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Gardener planted new flowers
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Professional photographer (TourFactory) also prepared the property-specific website. Although I had the photos by the following day, it still took time to get the photos set up for a printed brochure. Thank goodness for Print Creations for the exceptionally good and fast service.
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Printers needed 2-3 days to create, have proofs approved, print and deliver the brochures
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VOILA! See www.9PalmBeach.com for the finished product.
TWO MONTHS or longer
And then there are those who have schedules that couldn’t be rushed. Major repairs. Major cleaning. Scheduling conflicts, etc. Holidays with family coming in town. So although the listing agreement was signed in November, they’re not ready until February to show the house.
So when someone asks, how long does it take to get a house ready? The only sure answer is, “It depends on the people and the property.”
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