Special offer

Staging Your Raleigh Home to Sell for All It’s Worth - Part 1 of 3

By
Real Estate Agent with Keller Williams Realty
Raleigh home yardAre you thinking about selling a home in the Raleigh area in the near future?  Regardless of whether we are in a seller’s market, or a buyer’s market, there are some timeless principles that you can always apply to maximize your profit when selling your home in Raleigh, or anywhere else for that matter.  This article is the first in a three part series about how to prepare your home to sell quickly, for top dollar, without having to invest a ton of money.

Curb appeal is the easily the single most important factor in preparing your home for sale.  The old saying that you never get a second chance to make a first impression is the rule to live by with regards to curb appeal.
The way your home looks from the street affects so many other aspects of my marketing plan.  I will spend an enormous amount of time, energy, creative talent and money to get someone to your home.  The subject of my marketing presentation (your home) must be as appealing as possible to the discriminating eye of the buyer. 

To begin with, photos sell houses.  I cannot tell you how many times a buyer has told me not to show them a home based on the photo in MLS.  The main photo in the MLS, and most every other form of online and print advertising, is the front view, from the street.  If they don’t like what they see in the ad, they’re not going to bother looking at your home.

So they like the photo we put in the MLS, or the ad… now what?  Well, the buyer will most likely drive by your home for a closer look.  The purpose of this is typically to confirm what they see in the photo and to clarify anything that was not clear from the camera position used to take the photo. 

Are you beginning to see why I place so much emphasis on curb appeal?  If this single component of preparation is neglected we have lost before we have even begun.  The photo will not attract enough buyers from my advertising and anyone driving by will just keep on looking unless we nail this!

A clean, well groomed, attractive yard that is free from debris will quickly grab our prospect’s attention and make them want to see more.  Here is a list of things to make sure are in order in your yard.

  • keep the grass mowed
  • trim the edges of the lawn
  • sweep all walkways
  • remove any toys
  • park all cars in garage
  • remove RVs or boats
  • freshen the natural areas
  • replace weathered mailboxes
  • clean pet debris and remove pets
  • plant flowers if in season
  • trim trees back from the house

You will get every penny you spend on the yard back either in a faster sale, which could save you another mortgage payment, or offers at a higher price. 

The bottom line is the more buyers I can get into your home, the higher the eventual sell price and the shorter the time on the market.  What they see from the outside will have a huge impact on the quantity of buyers I can get to look inside your home.  Help me to help you by creating curb appeal that will compel buyers to look inside. 

Remember, if they don’t like what they see in the ads, they won’t come.  And if they don’t like what they see when they drive by, they will simply move on to the next house.

Be sure to check back on Monday for part 2

Comments (0)