Because I rarely agree with other real estate professionals, I thought I'd put some links to what other "tips" are available out there in Cyberspace, regarding Getting Your Home Ready For Market. Then I will provide Ardell's Advices On Getting Your House Ready For Market, which are bound to be quite different from the generic advices available on the Internet.
Let's take that book up there as an example. I didn't even open the cover yet, and I already disagree with the author.
Read the yellow print. Is your goal to make "the inside of your house A SELLER"S DREAM"? Of course not. It is your goal to make the inside of your house A BUYER'S DREAM!" and there is, in fact, quite a huge difference between the two.
ARDELL'S ADVICES ON HOW TO GET YOUR HOME READY FOR MARKET.
Priority 1 - Set your budget
I have used the same number for 17 years, and it never fails me. The Seller sometimes fails me by not listening :). but not the number itself. It's simple. No one should ever spend LESS than 1/2 of 1% of the sale price to get their home ready for market or MORE than 1% of the sale price. So if your sale price (not asking price) is expected to be $500,000, then you spend $2,500 to $5,000. If your expected sale price is $190,000, then you spend between $800 and $1,900. The lower the number you have to work with, the more you may have to do the work yourself. Don't blow your whole budget on one item. It will be a waste of money.
Priority 2 - Make a list of things you SHOULD do
No one is EVER going to do everything they SHOULD do, so it is very important to make this a COMPLETE list, knowing you will not do all of them. Don't make a list of what you WANT to do...that come's later. This first list is everything...absolutely everything. I don't care if it is 45 pages long at the end...we want to see everything first.
DON'T MAKE THIS LIST!!! THE SELLER CANNOT BE THE ONE WHO MAKES THIS LIST, unless he is the one with the pencil and someone else is telling the seller what to write on the paper. Forget those advices in the links that tell you to look at your house differently. Listen to me on this one. You CAN'T EVER look at your house like a buyer will. How do I know this? Try seventeen years in the field. NO ONE CAN! NO ONE! If you live near me, then call me. I will do this with you even if you are going to sell For Sale By Owner. The best person to do this is an agent, but not just any agent. It must be someone who isn't afraid of hurting your feelings. Many agents are too afraid of hurting your feelings, and you must be present during this process. They are afraid "they won't get the business" if they hurt your feelings. So hire somone who is a straight shooter and will tell you the truth. Not many are.
Many agents want to tell you the truth AFTER you sign the contract to hire them, as they are afraid to tell you the truth before then. Some NEVER want to tell you the truth, they want "the market" do to that, so they don't EVER have to. I say that for reasons of transparency, and not to badmouth other agents. You MUST know this enough to recognize it when it happens. So if that is the case, and you can feel it, trust your instincts and hire them now with instructions to NOT let anyone see the house and NOT to put a sign up until the house is ready, IF that's what you have to do to get some honest advice.
Don't want to call an agent? Then pay three strangers to walk through your house slowly and say anything that comes to mind. You will be amazed at what they DON'T see (that you were going to spend money on), and what they DO see (that you didn't want to deal with). Even I often do this after I think the property is ready for market. When I've done everything, I get someone to come through and point out anything they see that is negative. Often it costs nothing or almost nothing to fix those things quickly. It's an excellent last step that I'm throwing in here at Step 2.
P.S. Don't have MORE THAN ONE agent come at this stage. You don't want more than one agent seeing your home at its worst. Try to make it the one you will "likely" hire, if and when you decide to hire one at all.
Priority 3 - Do EVERYTHING that costs nothing and is easy to do first.
All too often people go to the most expensive things first. It's a waste of time and money to go that route. Often after you do everything that costs nothing and is easy to do first, You find that you are done. SURPRISE! Even I'm surprised, when we do all the things that cost nothing first and say, WOW, this place looks good enough to sell and putting money into it isn't worth the return. That almost never happens before you do the cheap stuff first, because no matter how hard you try, you can't visualise what the place will look like with these things taken care of.
A) Call an agent who has staging credentials to help you with this list of DO FIRST stuff. My credential for this is called an ASP meaning an "Accredited Staging Professional", there are others, I expect. This way you don't have to spend extra money on this initial round of improvements. In fact it's free, but you shouldn't "use" someone by intending to hire Agent A, but using Agent B for this step. It's just not nice. If the Agent you know you are going to hire can't do this, then pay the $500 or so for a staging consult by a Staging Company.
B) DON"T do ANY of it before the agent or stager comes. DO NOT "de clutter" or put things away or into storage before the agent or stager comes. Often what you have "out" will go into storage and some thing over here will end up over there and something in the garage or closet will end up as "staging". I usually tag these items and say "I need this, I need this" Often the owners are surprised with what I want and what I don't want. So don't assume you can do this on your own. We want to see it ALL, and then you will know what to pack and store.
C) At this point you will have taken that first EVERYTHING list and turned it into TWO LISTS. One that costs nothing and one that costs money. The items on each list will be prioritized in order of importance. Sometimes a "cost item" will be being done, while the "free list" is being done, if that cost item is an absolute necessity. Often the cost item is outside and the free item is inside, so both can be done simultaneously.
I think I've already given you a good start, and disagreed with enough people in the links to get you going in the right direction. Often, very often in fact, when you are finished the above you are done. If you did the "must do" cost stuff and all of the free stuff, sometimes you are just done. You are too tired to move and you are out of money, and sometimes when you get there...it's "good enough to go".
I remember trying to sell my rental condo many years ago. It was so difficult for me to do much of this with tenants still in the unit, that I waited until their lease was up, and ended up listing it vacant. We had some staging items in the empty condo like plants, however, staging theory has grown dramatically from simply cleaning, de-cluttering, removing pictures, turning on lights and music, and baking cookies.
It almost sounds like it is better to move out of the house before it is listed. What do you think about this?
The new way, Jillayne, is to get everything ready to go so that it will sell in 72 hours. Then put the property on market, take a long weekend, and come back and to review your offers. If you have no offers, then we need to figure out why not and fix that. That's the hard part...not the getting it ready...the "I don't wanna" part.
Spouse and I are planning to put our home on the market next year to move closer to grandchildren. We spoke to one Realtor about an improvement we had underway, and as nice as she is I wasn't impressed with her marketing plan. Our kitchen has good bones but isn't 'fancy'. She suggested we replace our cook-top with a Viking cook-top. I don't have any issue with that, really, but frankly that isn't what I would choose were I do an upgrade of the kitchen. Also, since our home is accessible, an older couple may have quite different tastes.
I am told that in my community about half of the upper-end homes (ours would be in that group) have seller's inspections done before listing (as is the practice in the Silicon Valley). I see you don't recommend that. After watching more than a couple 'Buy Me" episodes I can see that what may bother the seller may not be a concern of the buyer. It that why you don't recommend seller inspections?
Having only sold a home once, and that when a Realtor learned we were planning to sell and had a buyer who wanted our house, this will be a whole new experiance.
Our home has an absolutely stunning view and shows best in July-Sept. I see here everyone is anxious to be on the market in April. So, what gives???
I'll answer the inspection issue in a separate post.
As to April vs. July-Sept, early in the year is more forgiving with more buyers than sellers Jan 3 through May 15. May 15 thorough July 31, same number of buyers but more sellers. August 1 through October 15 fewer buyers and too many sellers. So for the supply and demand push, 1/3 through 5/15 is best. (we're talking single family here, not condos)
If people have children, they want to be in the house before school starts. Usually two weeks before school starts at the latest. Figure a 30 day escrow, so most want to be in escrow in June...July at the latest.
I don't understand why it's "hard to read", but it's my style to talk with passion and with my hands waving around. I knock over wine glasses a lot. Good thing I like cheap chianti
Before I write that blog post on the seller doing a home inspection, I'm conducting a little survey over in Active Rain where there are more agent comments from around the Country, than consumer comments.
After I gather some more info, I'll write the post. You already know my answer is NO WAY should a seller hire a home inspector before listing the property for sale. I have had an inspection done by the seller, but not prior to the property being listed for sale.
The only exception is relo, so possibly your area has more relocated sellers. Relo does an inspection when relo is "buying" the property from the seller and then selling it. Guaranteed buyouts are inspected before the relo company agrees to a buyout number. My guess is that is why you see them more in your area. It is usefuly for the seller to know their true estimated net proceeds after repairs if they are buying before they sell. But it puts the seller in a very awkward situation regarding Seller Disclosure issues.
Let's see how some other agents answer this question. I'll give it a couple of days, it being a holiday.
Did you forego having your own home inspection done, because you had a home inspection handed to you by the seller?
I have seen one home with four inspection reports that didn't match one another with regard to defects. If the seller hands the buyer an inspection report, and the buyer later has a problem that was not on that report, where is the buyer's recourse? Many Home Inspection companies carry insurance if they miss something. But is the eventual buyer covered by that insurance, if the buyer of the home is not the one who contracted for the inspection?
Interesting...I had no idea. I suppose if there was a MAJOR defect, an attorney would haul everyone in for testimony. Minor defects? Hmmm. I'm not sure I'd have much recourse. But sellers are suppose to disclose major defects, so I would imagine liability would fall back on him or her. Pls feel free to correct me if I'm wrong :)
Change in case law says buyer must do their OWN do diligence, according to Russ Cofano's post linked in this sentence. That means doing their own home inspection.
I'll have more to say on this in my wrap up post once all the info is "in".
As a Realtor, I don't often suggest a seller get their own home inspection. In the current market, however, I may suggest it if the sellers have been in their home over 25 years, and it is their first and only home they've ever owned. There is nothing more wrenching than having a seller find out, for example, that his foundation wall is bowed and must be corrected or the deal is off. They have lived in the house all these years, and would not have possibly noticed it in this example. It is always the Seller's decision whether to have an inspection, and I respect whatever decision thaey make.
Wow, I wish I could list a home and get an offer the first weekend! It's just not that market anymore, not here anyway. So we have to be honest and brutal (in a nice way of course) and tell our seller what needs to be done. I recently went on a listing presentation and the sellers wanted top dollar for their upscale home. As I walked through the house with them I pointed out what needed to be repaired, painted, replaced, etc. they had lots of excuses about why they wouldn't fix this or that. I told them they would sit on the house for a year at the price they wanted to list at unless the home was perfect and when I left they understood that unless they did everything they could to put the home in tip top shape, not only would I not be their listing agent but they would never get what they wanted for the home.
I have another seller who was so excited to sell that right after I listed the property they ran to Sears and purchased and installed new appliances in the kitchen. How do you tell them they will never get a return for that?
I like your formula on spending not more than 1% of the sales price for repairs. However, what if the carpet was stained and worn? Wouldn't you want to replace that? The cost to replace flooring is probably going to be more than 1% of the sales price but a trendy, wood-grain, laminate flooring is going to sell much faster than stained and worn carpet. Some older homes have bath and kitchen tile in colors that just aren't popular anymore. My grandmother's pink tub, toilet and matching tile comes to mind. I don't know anyone that wouldn't want to replace that.
We have over 75 homes for sale in our area of 3000 people. If I want to make my listing more attractive than the other 5 homes for sale on the same street, wouldn't I want my seller to consider replacing something that will turn buyers off. If buyers are thinking about how much time, money and hard work it will be to replace stained carpet and a pink toilet they're probably not thinking about making an offer.
Sorry I missed your comment up there when you posted it the other day. The answer to your questions would take ten times the words it took you to ask them. too many.
Simple answers.
1/2 of 1% to 1% of sale price for showing/comsmetic issues. Of course if it needs a new roof, and the seller is prepared to put a new roof on, then that is over and above the 1% or 1/2 of 1% as that is correcting a DEFECT and not preparing your cosmeting presentation.
Sometimes new appliances ARE needed, and sometimes not. Depends on the house and the price.
The bathroom is what it is. The house price should reflect that. No one should have to totally gut their bathroom or kitchen to sell their house. That would be more like a flip project than a straight home sale. Not saying some shouldn't do that. But if the seller is just moving, normally the price should reflect the existing house, and improvements simply show the existing house it it's best possible light. Not making it ino a house it isn't.
I agree with you a lot, Carol. Had a nice chat at the Active Rain picnic with Greg Perry and agreed with him a lot. I think agents who rarely list and work mostly with buyers have a skewed viewpoint as to the big picture.
I don't agree with big teams very often. Splitting the work into 5 pieces often produces a myopic viewpoint. I just don't like "easier for agent" and "fewer headaches during escrow for the agent" being the reason for change. As long as it's better for the buyer and seller...great. But I don't see that as the rationale so far.
Don't often agree with other REALTORS®, geez, your beginning to sound a lot like me. There are too many generic "how to's" about all aspects of the real estate business out there in cyberspace and to many less than self motivated, non thinking REALTORS® regurgitating it back to clients as the golden rules.
We are more alike than you think, Gene. Thanks for stopping by. I've always hated generic advices on a pre-printed handout. Some are good for starters, but we always have to tweak advices to our particular clients' needs.
In that regard, I agree with you. You are obviously not the kind of agent who isn't paying attention "in the moment". You passion shows.
Hi Ardell,
Thanks for the link, even if you disagree with our recommendation on how to prepare a home to sell! I guess every market has it's own differences - the home in the post had been estimated to sell for around $950,000 by other agents; our client invested about $15,000 in improvements and staging, based on our recommendations; it closed two days ago for $1,100,000. They're quite happy with the return on investment.
Bob
Not sure which one is your link up there. I'm wondering how much of that $15,000 were actual improvements to the house vs. staging that left before closing.
I continue to be amazed at how much more buyers are willing to pay for staged property. One of my hardest jobs when a Buyer's Agent is to coach them on seeing the actual house vs. the staging. I try to keep staging less like camoflouge and somewhat "light" so the buyers can see what they are really getting.
Same as when a buyer purchases new construction. I try to get them out of the model and into a completed project without the staging. Often they like the model, but not the actual bare product.
RE: how much we spent. Actually only about $2000 on staging, the rest went into landscaping, paint, handyman work, debris removal. What we find here is that a house that requires NO work to move in sells much faster, at least in this price range.
That's a very resonable price for staging. I assume that didn't include renting furniture and the stager could use the owner's furniture. I do that kind of staging myself within the listing fee.
You said I disagreed with your method, but seems like your $13,000 balance was pretty much within what I recommend at no more than 1% of sale price. I think we do agree. Sometimes my sellers go a bit over the 1% as yours did. It depends on the condition of the property at the time I list it. Some spend very little, some a bit more. I have one now getting to 2% because it needed new carpet, wallpaper removed, paint and two new appliances. Sometimes it depends on how long the sellers lived in it without upgrading anything.
ARDELL
DellaLoggia
On Seattle Real Estate including Kirkland, Bellevue, Redmond, Green Lake and most areas around Lake Washington North of Downtown Seattle.
Phone: 206-910-1000 - Mailto:Ardell@RainCityGuide.com
You can find many great Seattle real estate agents and loan officers on ActiveRain.com ARDELL DellaLoggia is a proud member of the ActiveRain Real Estate Network, a free online community to help real estate professionals grow their business.
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