Listing With Us

PREPARING YOUR PROPERTY TO BE COMPETITIVE

Selling your property in today’s market is a challenge. When you are contemplating putting your home up for sale, make sure it is ready. When you decide to move and list your home for sale, your home now becomes the house you are marketing. Your home reflects your personal taste, your family pictures, and your personal style.When you list your house for sale you will need to de-personalize it. Potential buyers need to see neutrality throughout, so they can see visions for their own personal touch and style. Before you list your house for sale, you will need to invest a small amount of money to prepare the house for marketing. Some folks spend hundreds of dollars to get their used car or truck ready for sale. Since your house is many more times valuable than your car or truck, you may need to invest a thousand or two. However, the investment may produce a handsome return.

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1.) Losing Your Investment Return

Simply said, listing your property for sale before it is ready will not yield the best return on your real estate investment dollar. Asking your Realtor ® to list your property before the house is ready, is like trying to sell a car when the engine is running rough and the tires are low.

2.) Start Packing Before It is Sold

It is time to pack away those items that have personalized your home, and it is now time to ready it for potential buyers to visualize how they would make it into their home.

Here are three C’s that you can apply as you get ready.

Clean
Clutter
Color

Houses that sell are clean, clutter free, and color neutral. Dirt, dust and smell are hindrances to your houses sale. An important point to remember is that if you can smell it, you probably cannot sell it! Your house may be clean, but now it is time to take a look at clutter. It can reduce a 2,000 square foot home to appear to be only 1,200 square feet. Move through your home room by room. Take clutter and personal items and divide them into four groups – pack, toss, give away, sell. Once this is done, you are on your way to adding more square footage through the house. Lastly, lets look at color. Are you a person that likes to make a statement with the color of a room? When you are living in your home that is fine, but now that you are moving and de-personalizing, it is best to change to a neutral color.

Furniture
Almost everyone enjoys having a house full of comfortable furniture. Step back and look at how many pieces of different furniture you have. Most of us have more than we need. Now that you are selling your house, you need to make some adjustments so you can maximize your floor space. Buyers will see your house as having more value because the house will appear to have more living space.

Wall clutter
Open up the views around the walls and windows by packing up some wall pictures and some knickknacks on shelves. Buyers will now picture their personal items in these spaces.

Windows
Sunlight gives life and energy to your house, so let the light come flooding in. Draw back window coverings and make sure that the window casement areas are not overpowered by them.

3.) Room by Room Staging

Many people are overwhelmed at this point. That is why we are here. We want to assist you in making decisions to move forward and get your property sold! So, lets walk room by room through your house and get the job done.

Living room
Most people like an open and spacious living room area. Start by situating your couch, love seat, and chair/rocker in a conversational way. Clear your end tables off and place a couple of magazines or a vase of flowers and candles on them. Make sure not to place too many added chairs or side tables.

Kitchen
One of the most important rooms in the house is the kitchen. Counters are the staging area of the kitchen. Find a place in your cabinets to store the mixer, blender and other extras. We just want the bare essentials on the countertops. This may cause some inconvenience for the time, but remember you are selling your house and buyers need to see and visualize what they will put on the countertops. Next, check the counters for damaged edges and stains. New paint on the walls and trim give a fresh clean feel; especially to a kitchen. Clear the refrigerator of magnets, pictures, and reminder notes. A box of baking soda in the refrigerator after a good cleaning will reduce any unwanted smells. Does the dog or cat eat in your kitchen? It might be a good idea to temporarily move those dishes into another area of the house. The only room more scrutinized by a potential buyer other than the kitchen is the bathroom.

Bathroom
No “SMCC” allowed–that stands for No Scum, Mold, or Counter Clutter! This is a place where the buyer needs to see clean, clean, clean. An area where you walk in your bare feet needs to be pleasing to the eye, and nose. No toothpaste, curling irons, trimmers or make-up left out. Get some powerful cleaning supplies to ensure that the toilet and shower are sparkling clean :

Master bedroom
Do you recall your mother asking, “Have you made your bed?” When your house is on the market, try not to leave your bed undone or clothes on the floor. The bedroom is a place to unwind. Keep the décor simple with ease of entry to the closets and bed. The lighting should be soft, and the bedding neutrally coordinating with the carpet and the paint.

Dining room
To optimize dining room space, remove extra leaves from a large table and store them in a closet. As we have done in the other rooms, make the space look larger than it really is. The china cabinet should not be packed too full. If you know there is a showing scheduled, you may even desire to set the table with flatware and attractive dishes so the buyer can imagine how inviting your dining room can be. A vanilla or apple pie scent gives a buyer the feeling of wanting to dine in your home.

Entry and Hallways
The first impression of your house is found in the entryway. This high traffic area needs to be picked up. The carpets here and in the hallways need to be steam cleaned and wood or slate should be maintained to look like new.

Basement
Damp and dark….does this describe your basement? A dehumidifier is a must for your basement area. Selling a house that has a water problem is a huge deterrent to the buyer. Remember, if you can smell it, you can’t sell it! Florescent lighting in the basement works well to get as much light as possible at a reasonable price.

Garage
If your garage is filled with everything but a car, it may be time to have a garage sale. It is a great bonus for a buyer to visualize their auto in the garage. The sale will give you extra money to ready your property.

Yard
Curb appeal…this is the first most important impact that a buyer has. When your real estate agent arrives with the buyer at your property, the curb appeal is greatly increased when there is no over grown shrubs, dead trees, tall grass, or no grass at all. Siding and trim that needs painting should be completed, as well as shingles replaced that are over 25 years old or worn.

4.) Summary

The illustrations, content, and recommendations work for most properties, but there are no guarantees that it will work for your specific application. The purpose of readying your property, is to sell your house faster and for more money. Readying property is more important now than ever. Because people are not properly preparing their homes for the real estate market, properties are on the market longer and asking prices and appraisals are reducing selling prices. Sellers must use creative tools to sell their property to accomplish their overall real estate investment goals. To experience the financial appreciation of your greatest asset, call Ken Carlson and use his expertise in assisting you the seller to make the most of your overall real estate experience.

Call Ken at (989) 240-0970 to schedule an appointment for a complete review of your personal objectives and goals.

SHOWING YOUR HOME

Each showing must go well. A showing offers the buyer the opportunity to see if your home offers the features they are seeking. Your home needs to emotionally appeal to the buyer so that they can see themselves living in the home. Both you and Ken play a role in selling your home. Your role is to keep the home ready to show when buyers need to see it.

Ken’s role as your Realtor ® will be the following:

Submit your property to the multiple listing service.
Maintain internet advertising on loads of web sites.
Use of quality pictures to show case your home. Buyers love lots of pictures.
Submit your property to search engines.
Keep you informed of market conditions.
Report to you by phone when showings are pending and give you the results.
Install a highly visible yard sign.
Notify buyers that your house is for sale.
Monitor homes that are selling and advise you on how your property is competing.
Advise buyers on financing options.

NEGOTIATING OFFERS
The presentation is one of the most important steps to selling your property. It’s purpose is to achieve your goals while committing the buyer to the sale. You need an experienced broker to answer many questions in a satisfactory manner:

Is the buyer able to complete the sale?
Are the terms reasonable or not?
Should the offering price be accepted, countered or rejected?
How will this offer affect your needs and time lines?

CLOSING THE SALE
Even after you have accepted an offer, your property is not sold. Most sales contracts have conditions that must be met or the buyer could withdraw from the contract. At this point you need expert advise. I will make sure that you get the necessary guidance to achieve your goal of closing the sale.