Preparing Your Home

Getting your house ready to list is one of the most critical parts of the selling process and is often the one that happens before sellers consult with a real estate professional. When a buyer first enters your home, they begin to make positive and negative associations with everything that they see and interact with. You love your house and know it intimately, but all those little quirks that stopped bothering you years ago might cause a buyer to hesitate when it comes time to make an offer. We've seen it more times than we can count – small negative associations detract from the larger positive impressions that a buyer has about a house. Sometimes they can't even remember what it was that they didn't like, but it can significantly impact the offer price. 

Does your front door stick a little when you open it? Are there rust spots on your patio from an old irrigation system? These are the types of little issues that homeowners frequently overlook in their own house because they’re not a big deal to them in their everyday use of the home. A buyer who is about to make a major life decision, on the other hand, tends to see those little things as indicators of bigger issues elsewhere. Your first impression on a buyer is huge and you don't get a second chance to make one. Here are some common examples of small issues to address before listing your house:

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• Landscaping - Take a look at your house from the street or out your back door into the yard. If there are any areas that are overgrown, a quick trim can make your property feel bigger and cleaner. Clearing out some dead underbrush or adding a few fresh bags of mulch are also easy and inexpensive ways to freshen up your home's exterior.

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• Paint touch-ups - Paint is an unsung hero that is taken for granted when it is doing its job and is immediately apparent when it is not. Paint not only provides a limitless aesthetic pallet with which to create a consistent look, but it also protects the surface underneath it. If you have any gouges in your walls or patches that you’ve been meaning to touch up, now is the time. As resilient as stucco has to be to survive the South Florida sun and rain, it routinely forms minor cracks that can let moisture in. Filling and repainting these cracks is quick and simple but has a big impact.

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• Clutter - If you're selling your home, chances are you already need to spend some time paring down the items that don't need to come with you to the new house. Although it's tempting to put it off, now is the best time to deal with this task. An orderly home will feel bigger than a cluttered one and buyers always compare the listed square footage with the “feels like” square footage. Unnecessary pieces of furniture, cluttered surfaces, and excessive wall decor can all eat into your perceived square footage.

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• Doors and windows - Prospective buyers are going to look at every corner of the house, but these are some of the only things they'll be physically interacting with. Doors with difficult latches and locks, creaky cabinets, and rough-rolling sliding doors are all noticeable problems that can easily be tackled before your first day on the market.

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• Lighting - This is a big one that's easy to overlook as a homeowner. People replace their light bulbs as they go out, but they don't always remember exactly what the old bulbs specs are while they're at the hardware store. Combined with rapidly evolving lighting technology, this can lead to a patchwork of different color and intensity bulbs throughout the house. When it's where we live, we can quickly acclimate to these variations, but a set of fresh eyes will pick them up immediately. Cameras are even more sensitive and, while editing can still do wonders, dim or inconsistent lighting will absolutely affect your home's photos. There are a wide variety of lighting styles to choose between and, if you aren’t familiar with the terminology, it can be incredibly overwhelming to try and make the right decisions. A simple and straightforward method is to choose LED bulbs with a neutral white color (4000K) and 500-800 lumens of brightness. When replacing overhead lighting, it should usually be about 50% brighter (1000-1600 lumens) but the same color (4000K) as your other lights.

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• The little things - These are the types of tasks that you’ve already been meaning to do in the back of your head for months or years. Things like cleaning dust or grime from the irregular surfaces of your doors and baseboards, deep cleaning your kitchen backsplash, clearing all the dust from on and around your A/C vents, etc. An hour with a bucket and rag can make a huge difference in your home’s overall presentation.

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• Don’t go overboard - While we definitely suggest taking care of these types of things before you place your home on the market, we are often asked by sellers whether larger projects like a kitchen remodel or flooring update would be worth tackling before they list their house. While the answer to these questions varies case by case, it is usually not advised to spend significant time or money to undertake major updates to otherwise functional parts of the house. If you are considering selling and are unsure of what items belong on your to-do list, feel free to contact us at any time.