In your lifetime, you may only prepare one house to sell. We have helped sellers prepare homes to sell for over ten years. With our expertise, resources, and project management skills, it will be seamless.

HOME PREPARATION

The first step in getting ready to sell any home is to consider who your most likely client will be.  A family? A retired couple looking to downsize? A corporate executive looking to relocate quickly?

By determining your most likely buyers you can start to evaluate your home and think about which features will be especially attractive to them.  Once you have a good idea of the positives (office space? pool? large bonus room?) and negatives (no parking? lack of privacy?) you can begin to prepare your home by emphasizing the good while providing solutions for less-than-ideal aspects of your property.

One of the most important steps to preparing your home is assessing normal wear-and-tear.  Unless your buyer is a contractor looking to flip the home there are a few key areas you should look into renovating

• Kitchens? Still using the original kitchen fixtures?  One of the easiest ways to boost the value of your house is replacing them with modern looking appliances.
• Paint? Old chipped paint can make your house look run down and it’s an easy fix to apply a new coat.  Make sure to pick a neutral color - the idea is to appeal to the largest group of buyers possible.
• Floors? If your carpeting is outdated/worn think about installing new carpeting. Scratched wood floors? Consider buffing them down with a drum sander and giving them a new finish.

There are countless options for improving your home but focusing on the core essentials will give you the best return for your investment.  Sure, most people like a newly remodeled office or brand new windows but it’s unlikely you’ll make your money back when it’s time to sell.

The next step in selling your home is removing clutter.  The key idea to staging your home is that you want your potential buyers to envision themselves living there.  While your might love your huge L-shaped couch and entertainment center, it’s more important to have minimal furniture that makes each room look large and inviting.

Once you’ve removed clutter you are ready to stage your house.  Whether you decide on having a professional staging company bring in their own furniture or a do-it-yourself approach there are a few things to consider.

• Make sure your house is spotless. Wash your windows.  Wipe down all fixtures and appliances.  Hide away any clutter.  If it’s been years since you’ve done a true deep cleaning you might want to consider bringing in a professional maid service to look over every inch of your house.
• Freshen up your house. Even if you don’t smoke cigarettes, houses tend to take on certain smells related the previous owners.  Open up all of your windows, turn on your fans and use mild air fresheners in each room to make sure your property has a neutral smell.
• Lighting matters! One of the easiest things you can do to make your house look larger and more inviting is to make sure it’s well lit.  Think about buying high wattage bulbs for all of your lighting fixtures to improve your lighting. Most importantly, don’t get overwhelmed!

VENDORS

Selling your house is a major decision and having a trusted guide will help eliminate stress and make the process go smoothly from start-to-finish. We have many excellent vendors that we work with to help get your home ready for market. If you have trusted resources, we are happy to help coordinate the work that needs to be completed. As part of our project management, we will provide you with a projected budget, timeline and to do list.

SAMPLE TIMELINE TO MARKET

15-Apr	Wednesday	BIDS & Project Plans Delivered
15-Apr to 25-Apr		Home Prep
23-Apr	Thursday	Direct Mail Campaign Ordered For Delivery In 3 to 5 Business Days
24-Apr	Friday	First Social Media Campaign Initiated
24-Apr	Friday	Windows Cleaned
27-Apr	Monday	Staging Completed
27-Apr	Monday	House Cleaned
28-Apr	Tuesday	Photo Shoot
28-Apr	Tuesday	Sign Installed In Yard
29-Apr	Wednesday	Property Website Created, Property Brochure Ordered
30-Apr	Thursday	On Market, Media Advertising Initiated, On-Line Marketing Distribution
30-Apr	Thursday	Door Knocking in Neighborhood, Invitation To Twilight Tour
1-May	Friday	Second Social Media Campaign Initiated
1-May	Friday	Twilight Tour
2-May	Saturday	Open House 1-4
3-May	Sunday	Open House 1-4
5-May	Tuesday	Broker Tour 9:30-1:00
9-May	Saturday	Open House 1-4
10-May	Sunday	Open House 1-4
12-May	Tuesday	Offers Reviewed