Everyone knows it's a strong sellers' market out there, although things calmed down a bit in the late summer and early fall. Despite our rapid market, there's still a lot of strategy and work that goes into presenting a home well and getting top dollar for your sellers. Here's a glimpse into what I did to help my Gresham client prepare her home - a 1978 three bedroom/2 bath split-level - for sale in September. Also, check-out some of the before and after photos below!
I researched and prepared a detailed Competitive Market Analysis (CMA) which included an in-depth look at similar homes for sale, assigning dollar values to everything from bathroom fixtures to landscaping, driving or walking by the homes in-person and then repeating several times to give the best and most complete picture. Then I presented the findings to my client and recommend a list price.
I walked through my client's home and made recommendations on what to spend time and money on to make the home shine. This well-cared for home had recently updated systems (furnace, hot water heater, roof, etc) so we were able to concentrate on things like simple handy-person fixes, decluttering, cleaning up landscaping, and upgrading lighting fixtures. We also painted the blue front door a bright yellow that popped against the blue/gray siding for a fresh contemporary look. I was able to utilize my network of contractors to get the work done and project managed it all.
With this home, my clients would be living there during the sales process, so we settled on partial staging. They decluttered and put some furniture and belongings in storage, and the stagers took care of the rest. They created a beautiful simple layout that my clients could comfortably exist in, while giving potential buyers a clean visual experience with just the right amount of furniture and decor to imagine themselves living there. According to the National Association of Realtors® Research Group's 2021 study of home staging: 23% of sellers’ agents reported an increase of one percent to five percent of the dollar value offered by buyers, in comparison to similar homes and 18% percent of respondents stated that staging a home increased the dollar value of the home between six and ten percent.
Professional real estate photography is an absolute must (along with a floor plan drawing) to provide the most complete online viewing experience and entice buyers to come out for an in-person look. As a photographer, this is one of the services I offer my clients directly. We had a super tight window with this listing but I was able to run out and shoot as soon as the stagers were finishing up.
The listing went public on a Thursday (entered into RMLS and its various online syndications) and I held an open house both Saturday and Sunday, promoted by Urban Nest to their sizable email list and social media followers - and promoted to mine as well. We had a lot of interest including an out-of-town couple who was moving here to be closer to their grandkids. This couple had spent three full days looking at houses and falling in love with none - until they came to our open house.
The out-of-towners made an amazing offer my clients excitedly accepted, and then we moved onto the inspection period and negotiations. I was very fortunate to have a fantastic buyers' agent on the other side of the transaction which made for great communication and smooth negotiations, even when we came across something tricky in the inspections that no one expected. My co-op agent and I were able to quickly bring in experts and contractors to assess the situation and we came to a very fair agreement. The buyers and sellers were able to move forward to closing with everyone feeling good and excited. The closing sales price was $56,500 over list price.
BEFORE AFTER
Comments