In a sellers market, such as the Plymouth/Canton area, it is natural to wonder if you need to spend money getting your home ready for the market if you are thinking about selling. Many Plymouth/Canton homeowners think since inventory is low, that they can save money by not spending money on repairs, updates, or staging. Nearly every month we see examples where sellers save time on the market and net more money in the end by spending the time and money up front to get their home ready for the market.
Save Time
At the beginning of this year we had a referral contact us as they had a rental home where the lease was about to expire. The tenants already contacted the owners to let them know they were moving. It was about this time that the homeowners contact us to walk the property and give them a complete market analysis of the home including updates/repairs, staging advice, and a marketing strategy. Their home backed to a major road in the area and the area was very active. They decided to wait on listing their home while they did some repairs and obtained the city certifications needed to sell. It was awesome as they took almost all of our advice inside and out and the home was in great shape and ready to list. We went and toured their home to work out a timeline. At this point they told us since their home had a lot of traffic they decided to sell “For Sale by Owner”. We advised them that this was not the best choice as it was the hot spring market but offered to help them and guide them as needed. We checked on them ever week and they had a lot of traffic initially. Finally after almost 3 months on the market FSBO they let us take over. We went through our pre-marketing plan and then listed the home with new professional photos and set into motion our custom marketing plan. Within 1 week we had 16 showing and I personally showed the home twice. We sold the home for the exact list price that they had the home listed for almost 3 months. At the closing my clients looked over and asked why they didn’t listen months ago.
Make More Money
In another example, our team helped a seller just a few months ago. We consulted with the homeowners just after an identical townhome went under contract. After meeting with us, they spent $3,000 on painting their home, de-cluttering and getting it staged. The result was a bidding war that ended up with them getting a cash offer that was $15,000 higher than they thought they would get and $5,000 higher than the other similar unit.
The Bottom Line
No one likes to put money into a home they are about to leave, but more often than not that upfront investment will save you time on the market, make you more money and create a lot less stress throughout the process. So where should you spend your money?
- If there are any obvious repairs needed start there. Not only will these items scare away offers, but they will become negotiating items on home inspections.
- Get a fresh coat of paint. Make sure you go with neutral colors.
- Stage the home or hire a professional stager. Our team will give you advice on staging or hire a professional in the listing process because we think this part is so important.
- Consider making some updates if needed. Updating appliances, flooring and countertops can also go a long way.
- Give your home some curb appeal. Make sure the home looks great from the outside.
Finally, do not let your efforts go to waste.
Over 90 percent of buyers see your home first online. Make sure the photography puts it in its best light. Nothing is worse than spending the time and money to get your home ready for the market and then cutting corners on the photography and wasting those efforts. Our team includes high quality photography and online videos optimized to attract more views than our competition so that you home is seen in its best light by the highest number of buyers.
If you have any questions about how to get the biggest bang for your buck when selling your home, for more information about our team check us out at www.robertyoder.com or email robertyoder@remerica.com or call/text 734.718.8668 at anytime.
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