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When company’s coming over, out comes the vacuum, the window washing gear and the mop. When it’s time to sell the house, here comes the realtor with lots of helpful suggestions on how to get the most out of your home. Be afraid. Be very afraid. How many neighbors have you seen move substantial portions of the furniture out of their house so the realtor could “stage” the home properly?
Decide What You’re Willing to Spend
Let’s discuss what really sells a home, once the staging is done and sticker phobia overtakes the interested parties. Your first decision is based on a solid, verifiable number: what is your house worth? Look at recent neighborhood sales for similar homes, analyze the sale price fluctuation and match prices with home conditions. Your realtor should have that information readily at hand. At that point, you’ll have an idea of the sales value of your home in good condition, plus or minus perhaps five percent. Then, it’s up to you to decide how much you are willing to spend to prepare your home for sale.
There’s going to be a few judgment calls involved. Let’s say your roof is twenty years old. If the comparable home around the corner had a new roof and went for ten thousand over what your realtor says your home is worth, is it worth the money to put a new roof on? Probably not. Hopefully, scrubbing and a high powered hose will make your exterior siding look decent. If not, you’ll probably have to paint. “Curb appeal” is the second most important real estate cliché, following only “Location! Location! Location!” After that, focus on the other areas that you know will make a difference, and look for the economical fix.
Start at the Center
Begin with the kitchen. Women make most of the big purchasing decisions, and many of them consider the kitchen the center of the home. For families with kids, it often is. So consider refacing the cabinets (that’s refacing, not replacing) and upgrading the hardware for drawers and cabinetry.
Analyze the condition of your appliances. If you have an old refrigerator and a recent stovetop and oven, consider matching the refrigerator to the cooking equipment in brand and quality. Or vice-versa. If all the appliances are recent, perhaps all you need to do is buy face plates that match in color, so that they have appearance in common.
Interior Highlights
If you have hardwood floors, it’s probably worth the money to refinish them. It’s not a budget buster and dazzling hardwood floors offset by an area rug can really impress – even if the area rug is rented. It’s also a reason to rip out the stained wall to wall carpet that has to go anyway. Highly polished hardwood also suggests a home that is well cared for.
Don’t fix broken doorknobs – replace them. And replace the other ones that are supposed to match. Beat up bathroom cabinets, noisy fans – replace them. Hardware is cheap and new, working, matched hardware is going to be noticed by the guy who will be fixing everything that isn’t working if he buys the home.
You don’t have to paint every room. You have to paint every room with crayon drawings and patched holes. Dress up the things that would matter the most to you, if you were walking through an empty home testing switches, knobs and windows.
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