The Seller's Playbook - Preparing to Sell

Written by Watson Gowdy, Buyers and Listing Agent

The days are finally getting longer and warmer!  We’re about a month out from the beginning of peak selling season, and I’ve had a lot of clients ask how they can best prepare their home to list.  I wanted to take a moment to share our strategies for helping sellers minimize stress, maximize profit, and get their home sold for the most money possible.  

1. If you’re considering updates or repairs, weigh the added value of the work.  We frequently have people ask if they should repaint, make minor cosmetic repairs, redo floors, or even renovate bathrooms or their kitchen before listing.  The answer is… it always depends!  It’s important to look to neighboring comps and their interior features to determine the added value of any work done.  Paint is a fairly cheap and easy update that often is worth the trouble, especially if you have outdated paint finishes or walls in need of a fresh coat.  It may not add value to your home, but it will make the home more “eye-catching” in listing photos which in turn can increase buyer interest and quantity of offers.  Remodeling and updates can certainly increase value, but luxury features may not result in a proportionate increase in value.  If you’re considering any kind of pre-listing updates, give us a call!  We would be happy to help walk you through the value of any work you are considering so you can make the decision that will provide you with the greatest return on investment.  

2. Figure out your ideal moving timeline and destination.  I know, I know…this is obvious.  But it’s super important in helping us formulate the best strategy for your move.  Once we have “the where and when” figured out, we can track market analytics and work efficiently to help you find your next home while also ensuring we list your home at the best possible time.  If you’re moving to a highly competitive and sparse market, we need to start searching sooner and may need to list earlier to ensure we are ready to make an offer on the perfect home when it becomes available.  But if you’re moving to a new construction community or an area with more options, there may be less urgency to list knowing there will be plenty of homes available.  

3. If possible, try your best to remove any home sale contingency.  Yes, the dreaded “let’s move back in with the family” conversation.  I know this won’t be practical or feasible for everyone, but if you can find a way to navigate this, it’s a huge advantage to you on both sides of the transaction.  On the sale side, it allows us to list and market your home before getting under contract on your next home, which maximizes both the number and quality of potential offers on your home.  Sellers who have a home sale contingency on the buy side may feel the need to accept the first “acceptable” offer to keep their purchase from falling through.  Selling quickly is great, but we never want sellers to feel rushed to accept an offer that may not be the best terms for them.  And on the buy side, it considerably strengthens your offer terms.  Negotiating a home sale contingency is arguably the toughest task in residential sales, especially if you are looking at popular floor plans in competitive areas.  By removing that contingency, you can make competitive offers and greatly increase the chances of winning your dream home.  There’s nothing that hurts more than seeing a client miss out on a home they love because of a home sale contingency.  Think of it as a few months of sacrifice now in exchange for years of happiness in a home you love! 

4. Start packing up and boxing things you don’t need right now.  This will save you a lot of time and stress down the road, and decluttering your home helps ensure we can get the best listing photos possible.  It also helps the house show better to prospective buyers, and can save you money in the moving process if you decide to hire movers who charge on an hourly basis. 

5. Cleaning, landscaping, and staging can go a long way, but don’t sweat it if you don’t have time!  A lot of clients will hire a cleaning or landscaping team to help get their house looking as “list ready” as possible.  Here, our goal is always still going to be maximizing profit for you while minimizing unnecessary stress and expenses.  If you have pet stains or a sectional blocking a doorway, a little work or furniture rearrangement may dramatically increase the attractiveness of your home.  But often, a simple home cleaning is all that is needed.  Don’t spend thousands resodding your yard or cutting down trees without weighing the value of the costs!  If you’re unsure if an expense is truly worth it, give us a call first. 

6. Advertising and marketing maximizes profit, and our goal is to get buyers in the door.  At this point any updates and work are completed, the listing is live, and we’re hard at work finding buyers.  This is where we come in, and the pre-listing work comes to fruition.  Our Marketing Coordinator will be leveraging advertising sources to gain market traction for your home.  We really take pride in this and I don’t know of any other team that specializes in marketing like we do.  We’re on hundreds of websites including Facebook, Zillow, Realtor, and anywhere else that buyers may be looking.  In the weeks before listing, be thinking about your household’s schedule and availability for buyers to tour.  More people work from home now than in the past, and we want to maximize the number of prospective buyers that can tour your home with the least amount of inconvenience to you.  If you’re going on vacation for a week or plan to be out of the house more than normal, it may be a more convenient time to list.  Holidays are important to consider too, as we want to minimize days on market.  We can always negotiate a longer closing timeline depending on your needs, but getting under contract quickly is a huge benefit to you on both sides of the transaction. 

The most important question I ask to every seller client is how can I best serve you in the selling process, and how can I best help you to achieve your goals.  Every seller’s circumstances are different, and because of that I strongly believe in tailoring a game plan and strategy that works for you.  Selling your house (and buying your next house) is not the same as selling a boat and buying another boat, or anything else.  If you’re thinking of making a move either now or in the future, we’re here to assist you every step of the way.