Simple Tips to Get Your Home Ready for the Spring Selling Season
RISMEDIA, February 7, 2011-While it may feel like winter is never going to end, with each passing day, spring is getting closer. And now is the perfect time to get your home in selling condition. Dan Steward, president of Pillar to Post Professional Home Inspections offers his advice on why now is the best time to get your home market ready.
Dan Steward
President
Pillar to Post Professional Home Inspections
www.pillartopost.com
Last October, something quietly hopeful happened: the Pending Home Sales Index, a forward-looking indicator, rose 10.4% to 89.3 based on contracts signed in October (up from 80.9 in September), according to the National Association of REALTORS®. It didn't mean real estate was entirely out of the woods-the index remains 20.5% below a surge to a cyclical peak of 112.4 in October 2009-but it was a marked increase from the bottom it hit in June 2010. The bottom line about these numbers: things appear to be looking up. Buyers have dusted off their checkbooks and are making offers again.
Homeowners may have gone back-and-forth mentally for the past couple of years, wondering whether to sell their homes-and warmer weather is typically when folks most strongly consider putting that "For Sale" sign in the yard, rather than in the dead of winter. But, as winter reaches its deepest chill, spring is, ironically, extremely near. Even though it seems gray outside, this is the perfect time for homeowners to start getting their homes prepared for a sale, even if they're not sure they want to sell.
With many experts noting that home sales may well continue to rise, it's smart to make sure that a home is close to sale-ready condition, even if the homeowner's not sure if he or she is selling. Then, if and when they decide to sell, they don't have to follow that decision with six months of hard renovation work to fix things they've neglected. A little work at a time, as needed, keeps a home in good shape.
Winter is the perfect time for homeowners to take stock of ways to get their homes in good shape, before the warm weather moves the focus from the basement ceiling, to the beach.
Before spring comes, advise your clients to book an appointment with a certified home inspector who can check for weaknesses that might prevent a home from a successful sale.
They should focus on one or two things and, as the budget allows, get them fixed. Roof issues, leaks, foundation problems and issues with plumbing, heating and air conditioning are all core problems that should be addressed-and a repair now can almost always prevent a more expensive repair later.
Besides tackling these foundations, they should get organized, too. Advise your clients not to save spring cleaning for spring; start decluttering now.
One of the biggest deterrents to buyers during an open house isn't a non-chef-worthy kitchen; rather, it's clutter. Clear that tower of books in the corner; pare the giant vase collection down to the top five.
If the closet is simply a mound of clothes, advise them to head to the store and pick up a simple, self-installed organizational system. These steps, while small, will go a long way to make a home prepared to sell-so your clients will be in the best position to financially blossom as soon as the flowers start to bloom.
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