In Part 1 of this ongoing article which takes a look at how to sell your house in 2008, we discussed 'why' sellers must create a 'product' in order to sell in today's Real Estate market. Part 2 will deal with the 'how to' aspect for preparing your house for a successful sale.
Here comes the important stuff.....
The first thing that I advise the seller to do is to go online and check out the competition on MLS. Between the photos, virtual tours and house specifications that are part of every listing, you can get a pretty good ‘sense' of the home. Given this information, the seller must honestly and realistically look at their own ‘product' to see how it compares to comparable houses. We are not just talking ‘apples to apples' (e.g. number of rooms and special features like a fireplace), but the condition of their house is of paramount importance. Rooms must not only be freshly painted (wallpaper/wallpaper borders and stenciling is passé and is generally a huge ‘turn off'), but the paint color must be neutral - why, ‘neutral'? Remember that today's buyers don't have much 'down time', and because of inflated prices (not only in Real Estate, but in all areas of life these days), may not have the financial ability to renovate or re-decorate. Potential buyers need/want to be able to move right in and continue with their busy lives. Please also keep in mind, that although the house that they are buying may not be newly constructed, to the buyer it is still a ‘new house' and, as such, is expected to be delivered as such.
It is unfortunate that quite often the seller has already painted and made renovations before I am called in. Why do I say ‘unfortunate'? Well, because many times the paint color is either too cold (we're talking those white walls and trim!) or too bold. If you stick to a warm ‘neutral' paint color, such as a warm ‘camel' or ‘khaki', you give the buyer the ‘blank canvas' that they need in order to ‘paint their own dreams' of living in the house. Remember, you are selling the house and will be living elsewhere. It doesn't matter if the 'end product' does not reflect your personal taste (you really don't want it to!) but it does matter that it appeals to most potential buyers!
With regard to flooring, hardwood sells and carpeting is too ‘high maintenance'. If you have hardwood floors under that wall to wall, don't invest in new carpeting, but rather pull it all out and refurbish the floors. If your house does not have hardwood floors and the room(s) must be carpeted, choose a neutral Berber (please do not install commercial carpeting in your house!) or other low pile type.
Kitchens and baths are very important to today's buyers and must, at the very least, give the impression of being updated (the kitchen in the above photo belonged to a client who 'updated' with paint, new knobs, lighting fixtures and appliances). Cabinets can always be painted and given new hardware (nickel or brushed steel are a good choice) and, thanks to stores like Lowes and Home Depot, you can get a silestone or granite countertop installed at an affordable price. I don't have a Lowes in my area, so I am not aware of their policies, however I do know that Home Depot offers ‘no payments and no interest until January 2009' on any purchase of $299 or more. This might be a good way to take care of those important improvements that you need to make in order to bring your house up to current standards and Home Depot offers all kinds of installation. You can get your flooring needs taken care of there and purchase new appliances (stainless steel for the kitchen is the way to go these days). If your bathroom(s) needs updating, quite often just replacing the sink and vanity, removing the old medicine cabinet (and replacing with a wooden-framed mirror) and updating lighting fixtures can make a huge difference. Naturally, it goes without saying that the floor must be suitable and the walls should be freshly painted (no wallpaper and remember a ‘neutral', warm color). One further note: make sure that all of your installed lighting fixtures are not outdated or too décor-specific. Today's buyers like the bathrooms to have that ‘spa' look. Again, you can get some great replacements and/or accessories at very affordable prices at your local Home Depot or Lowes.
Part 3 will be the final installment of this article and will address special circumstances (children, pets and those 'big screen' TVs) as well as how to live in your house while it is being shown.
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