December is a slow month for real estate (although winter is a great time for motivated buyers), so we’re busy preparing listings for January. We’re working on one house right now that needs a bit of TLC before we put it on the market.
Part 1: How we prep a listing (this post)
Part 2: No-cost kitchen updates
We’re in the process of: Repairing and refinishing the fir floors. This house has beautiful wood floors, but wood floors in poor condition can bring down a property’s value. Putting time and effort into repairing and refinishing the floor is more than worth the effort.
Repairing and repainting all the rooms’ interiors. Dings and scuff accumulate in any house over time, and to truly repair them, you have to do more than spread some spackle around. We do it right—and we also repaint all the walls so no one can see any trace of the “touch-up” spots. A complete repainting job also lets us apply colors that will better appeal to potential buyers (just scroll down to see the canary yellow that’s currently in the kitchen… yikes!)
Painting the basement floors. It’s been a lot of scraping, taping, and painting these last few days.
Ripping up old carpet and installing new, clean carpet. Tearing out that old carpet was cathartic, and it’ll do wonders for the listing price.
Removing furniture the owner no longer wanted (and couldn’t sell) and hauling those pieces to the dump. Left to their own devices, the seller would have had to hire movers just to dispose of their bulky items.
Replacing kitchen counter and cabinets. When we first saw this home, it had FIVE different styles of kitchen cabinets spanning as many decades. We’re replacing that hodgepodge with one consistent, contemporary cabinet style. When we’re through, this whole kitchen will look and feel pristine.
How we prep a listing
When we partner with a client to sell their home, we don’t just put it on the market. We do everything we can to make the house the best it can be. We want every single one of our clients to get the full financial value out of their real estate investment.
That means we don’t just recommend a few contractors and stand back while you do the work—we get in there! We get our hands dirty. We take care of interior cleaning, spruce up the yard, pay for staging, and bring in a professional photographer. And if something else comes up, our team-based model means we always have someone ready to help with whatever our clients need.
In this particular case, the home needed some serious overhauls and updates, so we fronted the money. The seller will reimburse use after their house sells. It’s not the usual way Realtors operate, but we’re personally invested in each and every one of our clients. We specialize in making these housing transitions as easy and effective as possible.
We put a lot of work in the homes we list, but it pays off: our clients can sell high—with low stress.
Are you thinking of selling? Let’s talk about what we can do for you and your house!
