Getting Your Property Ready to List

When I visit my clients' homes with my stager, I make sure to tell them that how you stage a home to sell if much different than how you live in it. Our goal is to make the broadest appeal to the most buyers as possible by decluttering, neutralizing colors/styles, and addressing repairs.

As a seller, it's in your best interests to know your property's weaknesses before being surprised by buyer feedback or inspection requests. Your agent should give you her opinion on your market challenges, such as backing to a busy road or having outdated finishes, and help you adjust your listing price accordingly. I always recommend that a seller pretend they are a buyer and walk around and through their house with a critical eye, trying to find anything a buyer could pick on. Often we live in our house and don't notice little things like missing trim or a leaky faucet. Not only could these things possibly result in a lower contract price but they can make the buyer wonder what else in the home has not been maintained that they can't readily see.

It's important that your major components are functioning correctly, like your HVAC system, roof, plumbing, etc. Buyers almost always ask for the HVAC system to be cleaned and serviced, so you might as well get it done before listing. This way, if you discover a needed repair you can also take care of it right away - if the buyer finds it during inspection, they may request a whole new system or a significant monetary credit. If you think there may be hail damage to your roof, you will then have time to put in a claim to your insurance company. A brand new roof is a great thing to advertise to potential buyers. If your systems are old but functioning fine, offering a home warranty for the buyer's first year may give them some peace of mind.

Some areas, like many of our Colorado neighborhoods, have issues with expansive soils. These can present as cracks in the drywall, sinking sidewalks, heaving garage floors, or worse - foundation cracks and shifting structures. Many properties here have cracks in their garage floors or walks, and sometimes it may be a good idea to have them mudjacked or repoured. If you've had to address structural issues in the past, it's worth it to hire a structural engineer for a current report that says everything is still performing well. Structural issues are the biggest red flag that buyers run away from, so doing your homework ahead of time will save you time on the market and dollars on the table.

Minor repairs may not seem like a big deal to some sellers if they've been living with them for a while. It's a used house, after all, but these are the kind of things that make buyers wonder if you have paid attention to regular maintenance. Plus, they are fast and relatively inexpensive things to take care of yourself or hire a handyman to do. Scrape and retouch any peeling paint on trim or siding. Make sure your toilets are tight to the floor and your downspouts have extenders. Remove moldy caulk and tighten that loose railing. Paint that red accent wall white and cover the exposed weedblock with more mulch.

If you tend to have a lot of furniture or accessories, removing everything you don't need for the next few months is the way to go. You're going to have to pack it sooner or later, so doing it now will allow buyers the mental space to picture their own furnishings in the home. If you have an off-site place to store things that's ideal, but the garage will work in a pinch. Just be sure that buyers can get into the garage and see the floors and walls during inspection. Having a few family photos up in okay, but take down that gallery wall in the hallway and fill all the nail holes. Remove religious or political items, and hide the deer heads in the basement for now. Stagers can help you rearrange furniture so that the rooms looks as big as possible, and add artwork and color to the spaces to give it a final polish before photographs and showings. 

Everyone wants top dollar when they sell; using a critical eye and being a ruthless buyer for a few minutes can help get you there. My stager and I are happy to come to your home and help you make a to-do list, even if you aren't going to be ready to sell for a while!

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I would love to help you with your real estate journey. 

Please contact me at 303-917-7143 or robbin@elevatedrealestate.com

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What You Don't Know Could Hurt You

One of the important milestones during the process of buying a home is the inspection period.  I always recommend a professional inspection by a certified, trusted Inspector, even though Colorado does not require inspectors to be licensed to operate a business.  Don't rely on a once-over from your Uncle Al who's been a handyman for decades; a good Inspector has special expertise and tools to help him evaluate the structure and systems, and can recommend other inspections that may be needed, like sewer scoping, structural or asbestos.

Another tool for helping evaluate a home is the Seller's Property Disclosure.  This document is filled out by the sellers, and relates everything they know about the property to date, from roof leaks to code violations, from pest problems to appliance functionality.  It is not required to transfer the property, but it is always recommended.  Buyers will expect to receive this document, and sellers refusing to fill it out will raise eyebrows.  In addition, it can help jog a seller's memory about past problems or repairs that they may unintentionally neglect to mention.  While they are not legally required to fill out the SPD, they are required to disclose material facts about the property, and not doing so may result in big legal trouble down the line should something serious go wrong for the new homeowners.

Would you know if your roof was in need of repair?

Depending on your situation as a seller, you may want to consider having your house inspected and pre-certified even before listing your home for sale.  For a few hundred dollars, you can discover any issues that are likely to come up when the buyers do their inspection and address them right away.  You will be able to decide for yourself whether to repair or replace an item, and select the service provider on your own.  In many cases, it will be less expensive to take care of issues up front than to allow a buyer to use them to negotiate a discount on the asking price later.  This does not guarantee that another inspector won't find other issues, but at least you know that the big items such as the roof or furnace are in good shape.

There are companies that will do an inspection and then certify the home with a home warranty.  This can be just the thing to give a buyer some peace of mind for the near future.  Home warranties start around $300 for about a year, and there are several different packages covering a variety of items and systems in the home.  Offering a home warranty in your listing tells buyers that you are good about maintenance and sets a positive tone for negotiations.

One thing to note about getting the home pre-inspected.  Once you are aware of material facts about the property, you are required to disclose them to potential buyers.  If you find that there is some settling happening due to improper drainage, or that the furnace is on its last legs, you have to tell whether or not you plan on rectifying the issue.  However, it's likely going to come up at some point anyway, so I always advocate for being the first to know.

image:  Dana Dean Roofing Company

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I would love to help you with your real estate journey. 

Please contact me at 303-917-7143 or robbin@stauferteam.com

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