As the real estate market begins to heat up in various areas of the country, more and more homeowners are considering putting their homes on the market.  Many are looking at doing so in the spring of 2010, but have a relatively simplistic view of what is involved in preparing their homes for sale. 

In today's market, a market influenced by buyers who have neither the time nor the interest in fixing up a home, just adjusting the price to reflect condition doesn't make it.  In fact, if your house needs $50,000 worth of work to put it in good shape and you price it "discounted" by that amount, most buyers will estimate the cost to cure defects to be $150,000, so you're $100,000 apart before they even see it.

In a series of blog entries I will lay out my notions of what it takes to prepare a home for sale.  It can take as long as six months to do those things that will make your property scream appeal to a buyer, unless you've been fastidious in how you keep the home.  There are several stages, and the first is potentially the most expensive: the exterior, including landscaping and the building "envelope."

Curb appeal is the buzz phrase for the exterior, but that's but a small part of the whole picture.  Let's take a look at landscaping first.

Six months before your anticipated listing date with a Realtor® of your choice, spend two hours walking around the outside of your house.  Landscaping is intended to be a setting for the home, not camouflage.  It should not be so overgrown as to cover windows, nor so close to the house that you can't walk between the shrubs and house without difficulty.  Many shrubs take well to pruning.  I am an aggressive pruner, and I recommend it.  Clear that path around your house and lower the shrubs that obscure the windows.  This kind of pruning can take a full weekend or more, depending on how overgrown your landscaping is.  Be sure to look at trees that have shoots (called "suckers" because they can suck the life out of a tree) protruding from the trunk below six or seven feet.  You should be able to walk beneath a tree (non-weeping variety) without incurring lacerations or concussions.  Trimming these shoots and low branches also helps enhance, not obscure the home.

What about your lawn?  Does it look like an abused rugby field or a putting green?  Six months may be necessary to put your lawn in good shape.  There are many products available to patch lawns, and of course, there are lawn services that can put your yard in good shape.  But in good shape it must be.  Like the landscaping, it is the setting for the home, and is the first thing buyers see when they approach the house.

So, your lawn and landscaping should be in good shape by now if you've followed my suggestions.  The next step is to take advantage of the space you've cleared around the house.  You're going to walk around the house and evaluate the building envelope.  That's my next installment.  Stay tuned....