Marty and Max: Getting your home ready

There is so much to consider when listing your home. But what should you fix and what should you just leave alone?

Homes that are priced right are moving. In the last 24 hours, 35 properties have gone under contract in the Coeur d’ Alene MLS. The big question is where to invest both time and resources to get your home market ready? 

You can exhaust yourself getting ready and you do not want to be the guy that is caught mowing the grass when the house is on fire. You need to focus on the best bang for your buck. Major on major things and don’t be caught majoring on minor tasks.  

Have you ever been on a blind date? If you had a blind date in two weeks, what would you do to get prepared for it? Perhaps drop a few pounds, get your hair cut, buy a new outfit and make sure that you and your transportation are clean. You would not invest in bariatric surgery for huge weight loss or plastic surgery to drastically change who you are.

We need an affordable tune up, not a bank-breaking overhaul. Let’s walk through a low-cost way to get your home ready. 

When a potential buyer is walking through your home, they need to see your home, step one is thin out items. Perhaps store your oversize furniture in the garage or invest in a storage unit.  

I recently met with a couple who had a lovely home and they asked for direction on what they could do to make their home more appealing to a buyer. I normally provide buyers with an option that is good, but may require some change, a better option that requires much more change, and a best option that requires even more change. 

These two took the best option, removing all fish tanks, aquariums, large furniture and everything that was non-essential. They removed everything from the walls and invested in some high quality but “on sale” paint from Home Depot in 5-gallon buckets and repainted their home both inside and out. The financial cost was minimal, but the effort was tremendous. 

The interior paint was a light color, and I could not believe I was walking into the same home. My suggestion was to replace the dated electrical plugs, switches and plates, and they not only replaced those, but they went online and purchased all new light fixtures. The total cost was under $1,500 but they could potentially receive 50 times the return on their investment.  

How does your yard look? How is your curb appeal? There is no need to re-sod your lawn or invest in major landscaping, however you do need to remove any clutter, toys, animal waste, kids toys, engines hanging from trees and anything else that needs to be hauled off. Trim shrubs, water and green up the grass, remove weeds from the flower beds and perhaps add some ground cover to the flower beds.  

The goal is to make an investment that you will receive a return on. I met with an appraiser last week, and the areas that increase home value more than anything else are bathrooms and kitchens. 

You don’t have to break the bank. Bargain fixtures are available at Costco, Lowe's, Home Depot, Ziggy’s and many other locations. Most of these are DIY projects, however, there are plenty of locals that can be affordably hired. If you are replacing your bathroom fixtures, invest in a few square feet of flooring to finish the job. 

Speaking of flooring, how is your flooring? This is one of the last things that you can affordably change, however this is a slippery slope. If your carpets are OK, you may be able to hire a carpet cleaner to freshen those up. If this was a rental and your carpets were trashed by pets, or tenants, you may want to invest in budget-friendly flooring. These are available at the same home improvement centers listed above. 

If there has been water damage and the sub floor is spongy, do not simply try to install new flooring over a bad subfloor. When I see this in a home, I advise my buyers to run. What else has been covered up? This must be listed in the seller disclosures and should not be hidden. Get a quote to have this replaced and repaired correctly and you can offer a “flooring allowance” that will be paid back to the buyer at closing so the buyer can select their flooring.  

My best advice is not to step over a dollar to pick up a dime. Your final step is to find a full-service Realtor that will market and invest in you. Make sure to interview your business partner or Realtor to find out what and how they are going to market your investment. Insist on high quality images and marketing. 

Don’t try to sell a million-dollar home with 15 images, or worse, cellphone pictures. 

In today’s market, the standard is 45-80 hand-blended images including drone pictures, panoramic images and videos. Digital floor plans are also available, and although some pay to rent furniture for staging, virtual staging is an affordable option. 

If you have a newer home, or a home that is in pristine condition, perhaps all you need to invest in is a home inspection. This can provide your buyers with the confidence they need to pay top dollar for your home.

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For more information, contact Marty Walker at marty@21goldchoice.com. This article was not written by and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of Coeur d'Alene Regional Realtors. Source Reuters and CDA MLS