Listing your home in a "realistic market" is actually alot better then listing in a completely inflated, over the top, what are you crazy ????? market....like the one we just went through over the past few years. You may ultimately make a little less but you'll also get a great deal when you go to buy. When you sell low...you also buy lower. It's kinda fool proof, like gravity and prunes. The Buyers are out there, actively looking , better educated then ever, pre-qualified and armed with amazing interest rates . They know what they want and if you really do want to sell your home, you need to know what they want too. The first step is to "let go" of where you are....in order to let someone else live there. Buyers don't necessarily like or "get" the way you live. Mr., Mrs. and /or Ms. Joe want to walk into a house and feel like THEY could be home, not that you'll never leave. So if there are countless pictures of relatives on the walls, dried corsages from your prom twenty years ago hanging from a chandelier and popsicle stick houses that your child just made glued to the coffee table....it's time to take a big breath, remember that you want to move on... and de- personalize your living space. That doesn't mean your house should be devoid of life or warmth. Buyers don't want to feel they can't touch anything. I went to a model home once and helped myself to some jube-jubes in a bowl...they were out there...which means you can have some right ???? After I ate a handful, the New Home Sales Rep informed me that the candies had been sprayed with furniture polish to preserve them. I gagged and sputtered my way to the washroom to try and heave up the plasticised candy. The thing about jube-jubes is that once they're in...they're in...luckily I'm still here to tell you that there's a happy medium to this. Don't create a show house...make a space that anyone would be comfortable in. And here's a nice plug for Stagers. They really do provide a valuable service. As home owners we are normally very attached to all our personal goodies. A great Stager will gently coerce you into storing your china baby dolls and all the collectible beer cans in the rec room, so you don't weird people out. So let's start on the outside...which is usually where Buyers decide they're actually interested in your home. Garden knomes and pink flamingos in the front yard don't help. And if your daughter has skate boarded up the garage door....it needs paint. And speaking of paint...pink and purple are not good exterior colours. And an Allens Apple Juice can filled with sand and crammed with cigarette butts is not a welcoming sight at the front door. The outside of your home speaks encyclopedias about the interior to a Buyer. A nicely landscaped yard, freshly painted garage and front door and some pretty flowers in a pot says " Hey you! Yeah you... the Person who's gonna be lucky enough to live here....come on in! And they hopefully then step into the most important room in your house. That would be the "foyer" or "entryway" or "front hall" or whatever gives them the first look at the interior. If this doesn't get them....forget about it. Twelve pairs of smelly runners, an open hockey bag, winter coats hung up on hooks ( it's August ) and a floor that may be scuffed but we're not really sure...tells a Buyer that there's no space, no room for storage and....how many people actually live here? And when a visitor's shoes come off, it's good if their socks don't stick to the floor....for any reason. And the smell of cat urine wafting towards the nostrils upon entering is never a good thing. In fact any scent that isn't kinda neutral can end a visit. And if you have a dog...please go for a walk or leave Foo-Foo in a comfortable cage or well marked laundry room. Lots of people are afraid of animals...some really dislike cats. Remember that you're trying to create a "safe" place for the next Owner. So the inside of your house should be immaculately clean, and it needs to stay that way until you sell. Actually until you close, but you can take breaks. Yean I know....nobody actually lives like that...okay...some people do, but they never eat toast or cookies. Buyers do open shower curtains so get rid of any mould or rust stains around the tub, and when they peak in the oven ( yes they do that too ) , it shouldn't look like a tar pit in there. And finally and most importantly....there should be no dead things in the house. Dead flowers, dead cheese, dead people. I opened a bedroom door while showing a property once and there was a woman "laid out in state". She looked lovely but I think the owners should have planted her somewhere else before trying to sell their home. My client didn't buy that one. She did get a little hysterical however...kinda ran outa the house flailing her arms...and I never saw her again. And the moral of the story is....price it right, keep it clean, clutter and dead people free, inside and out....and let go. It's not about where you live now. It's about where you want to be in the future. Anyway...that's the way I see it. And next time...wall paper and panelling...is that ever a good thing? |