How many times have you walked into an open home and either feel at ease because everything looks new and pretty, or feel disgusted as you walk through an older home with all their dated furniture, dirty carpet, and 1980’s family pictures and chochkies all over? You’re not the only ones. When home buying, you want to see yourself living there and that is very difficult to do if you’re spending time looking at the sellers “stuff”. You want to be able to see how light and bright it is, how much storage is available, will your furniture fit and can you picture yourself comfortably living there.
A dirty, scuff-marked wall can cost $20K in repairs in a buyers eyes, when the reality is a coat of paint is much less. When selling your home, there is a reason your Realtor is guiding you to pack up your belongings and move out so we can get your home looking like a model. Typically that can be done with $10K-35K in paint, flooring, new lighting and landscaping. And the reward is much bigger, generally making anywhere from 2-7x what you put in, as long as you’re putting in the right upgrades.
Working with the right Realtor that has experience on how to capitalize on making you more money will work with you to make sure you’re doing all you can and in the correct way. You might not like the current “hot” colors of today, but you have to remember that this paint is not for your enjoyment but for the next home owner. And although you might love your oak kitchen cabinets, the chances are your buyers do not.
When selling your home, make sure you work with a Realtor that partners with a designer/stager, and great vendors that can help improve the value of your property without breaking the bank. And depending on their brokerage, might be able to front you the money to do all this at no additional cost to you (hint, hint, this is me!). So when interviewing your Realtor to guide you in your home sale, it’s not just about how much they will charge, but how much they will help you make the most money on your sale.