A small investment can bring you a greater financial return on your home.
If you are planning on selling your home this spring or summer now is the time to start planning. When buying a home today people use both their head and heart in their decision making process. In fact, most buyers start making a decision about a house within the first 15 seconds of pulling in the driveway. If your home looks great and is up to date, people can imagine living there which should be the goal of every seller.
What would make you want to put an offer on a house? Most people do not have enough imagination to see past unattractive spaces nor are they able to visualize the homes potential. Sellers have to make it easy for the consumer. A calm and serene decor can create a positive impression on potential home buyers allowing you to sell your home at its maximum selling price. You want to create a "Dream Home" atmosphere. It is a small investment to make when preparing your home for resale.
Think of your home as a product. Other products are carefully packaged. If the box looks beat up the purchaser may fear that there is something missing or broken and will opt for the product in the pristine box giving them the security that everything is intact within the packaging. If the damaged box is all that is available, the consumer will often negotiate a discount. Your house is generally your most expensive product and should be packaged perfectly.
If you are a do-it-yourselfer, seek advice ahead of time by having a consultation with a professional to get a to-do list so you have time to start preparing. Professionals in the field can objectively consider how best to use your possessions as well as consider what to add. They have a critical eye and are armed with tricks of the trade to transform your home into a buyer friendly space. A few hundred dollars can make you thousands on your resale.
Most sellers need an outside point of view on their home as it is difficult to see it objectively. When buyers are viewing your home they have very critical eyes. Your home is such a personal part of you and it is full of things that you love or that have a sentimental value. For example, your collection of family photos may make it difficult for a prospective buyer to see themselves living in your home. It is also important to consider that when you have been living in a space for a long time it is not easy for you to see the unattractive outdated wallpaper in the kitchen or that your decor dates back to the 1980's. Maybe your bedroom has become an extra storage room for laundry or the furniture and accessories that you don't have the heart to retire. It is natural to convince yourself that everything is okay when you have no idea where to begin or how to deal with the situation.
Start by doing some research of other houses selling in your price range in your neighbourhood. If the real estate market is hot that usually means it is a seller's market. Meaning, there are more buyers than sellers. If your home is properly prepared for the market perhaps your home could sell for more than the asking price. If it is a buyer's market, a properly staged home becomes even more important. Consumers are more educated than ever before and with the influx of so many television programs on interior design and home staging, people are shopping with high expectations.
For most people their home is their largest asset. Don't you owe it to yourself to receive the maximum return on your investment? There are so many things we cannot control when selling our home, such as the state of the real estate market or what mortgage rates are. However, we can control how ready our home is when it goes up for sale. Don't wait until you are about to put your house on the market to start thinking about what changes need to be made. This can especially apply to seniors or people who are planning retirement in the near future and are looking to downsize.
We accumulate so much over the years that it becomes a tremendous task to begin. This process can become even more difficult for adult children of elderly parents. Often the situation arises when we are met with a tragedy like a loss or illness, leaving an adult child who is struggling with a busy life of their own to assist their elderly parents with the process. It all can become very stressful. The adult children can become so overwhelmed with the process that the elderly parent's emotional and physical comforts can be overlooked due to the crushing need to get the job done. Many home stagers and organizational companies offer services to assist people in this very situation by helping senior's plan ahead or assisting them in their time of need. Thus, allowing them to get there house ready for the real estate market so that they can get maximum return on their home.
If you are planning a move soon or wish to downsize in the near future it is smart to plan ahead. By doing so it will make the situation more enjoyable and less stressful, whether you choose to prepare on your own or seek the services and advice of a professional in the field.
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