For Sellers

Top 10 Tips For Sellers

 

1.     Understand Your Market

• Research your neighborhood, and familiarize yourself with comparable homes that have sold recently in your area.
• Learn who the active agents are in your community, and which Realtors are effectively marketing other properties in your neighborhood. These are the qualified experts who likely have a thorough knowledge and understanding of the unique features and benefits of living in your community.
• Once you discover which agents are making transactions happen in your neighborhood, interview them. Make a decision based on their presentation of professionalism and past performance. Ask yourself if you would buy a home from them.

2.     Trust Your Advisors

• Once you’ve selected your team and made the decision to sell your home, trust your choice. The number one key to a successful sales effort is trust between a seller and their Realtor.
• Trust your Realtor team when they offer their opinion on price and recognize the value in their suggestions for a marketing strategy. The sales process starts with a seller who is serious about selling their home and a Realtor who is focused on getting the job done. Most Realtors come with years of experience in both up and down markets, and their guidance to successfully selling a home can be invaluable.

3.     Price It Right

• In today’s market, which is still a buyer’s market, significantly over-priced homes (10-40% above market value) are guaranteed to languish on the market. You can hire the leading sales firm to market your property and they can produce magnificent marketing material yet be unsuccessful in procuring a buyer because your home is simply over-priced.
• The most important thing is getting prospective buyers to enter your home in the first place. Buyers are incredibly sophisticated these days. The internet makes it very easy for them to possess all of the knowledge about the marketplace before they even pick up the phone and have a conversation with a Realtor. They are likely to dismiss an over-priced property before they even set foot in it based on what they can learn online.

4.     Organize & De-clutter

• As the owners of a wonderful Tahoe home, you have likely accumulated many things along the way; however, it is important to remember that a prospective buyer must be able to envision themselves and their own personal belongings in the home. If your personal items are overwhelming or unorganized it can be very distracting to a potential buyer and make it hard for them to see your home as their own.
• Consider hiring a Professional Organizer to help you get rid of bulky or unnecessary items.

5.     Empty the Garage

• An organized, or better yet, empty garage will help prospective buyers envision their own tools, toys, sporting equipment and vehicles parked in these wonderful caves. Empty garages also give the appearance of being larger and more spacious. Strongly consider renting a storage unit for the time being to store all of your bulky belongings.

6.     Clear Out Closets

• Show off those big closets the way they are meant to be enjoyed. Neatly organize, or completely clear out your closets if possible. Buyers want to be able to explore these areas without feeling like they are intruding on someone else’s personal space, and they want to envision their own personal articles being stowed away in there. Invite buyers to freely open closets and check out these vital spaces that make a home a home.

7.     De-personalize Your Home

• The first luxury homes to sell in a buyer’s market are the ones that are impeccably staged or furnished by a reputable interior designer. They tend to be neutral in interior taste and appeal to the masses. The best way to accomplish a home that appeals to absolutely everyone is to choose an interior design firm to aide in the process of de-personalizing. Typically you can find a design firm who will work with any budget. We would suggest Jeffers Design Group, Erica Tyler Interiors, and Scott Corridan Design to help with these efforts.
• Take down family photos from your prized photo wall and add a piece of beautiful artwork, something a buyer would want to see and own. We would suggest checking out The Carmel Gallery in downtown Truckee  for inspiration.

8.     Vacate the Premises (If Possible)

• The first homes to sell are the ones that are vacant and accessible for showings on a moment’s notice. A lot of sellers think they are adding intrigue to their home when they make it difficult to show. This may work for a $20M lakefront home, but in most cases it will result in a home being overlooked or never seen, as the competition in most Tahoe markets is fierce.
• Buyers have very little time to waste when looking for a new home, and if your home is available to show when another is not, you may just get that sale. Flexible and accommodating sellers will always have a better chance of success.

9.     Clean Everything

• The importance of a clean home cannot be overstated, and the ultimate goal is spotless, 5-star, Ritz-Carlton®-like cleanliness. Simple things like a cobweb on the ceiling, a dust bunny on the floor or a piece of dog hair on a duvet cover can be a major turn-off to discerning buyers. A clean house is a house a buyer wants to move in to.
• The sense of smell evokes memories and emotions more than all other senses.  Purchase a high-quality reed-diffuser to eliminate any lived-in odors and add a stimulating, clean fragrance. We suggest any of the fantastic scents from Agraria.
• In this magical environment of Tahoe, big crystal clear windows are the number one selling feature that will catch the eye of a buyer while touring your home. Spending a mere $400 on window washing to improve your priceless view can make all the difference in the world. You built your home in a luxury Tahoe community to enjoy the view, so show it off! We suggest Steve Hurt at (530) 386-2456 or Starlight Enterprises (530) 448-9493 for window cleaning.

10.     Curb Appeal

• Although this is #10 on the list, it is one of our most important suggestions. A potential buyer’s first impression of a home will be what they see from the outside. Make sure all landscaping has been recently cleaned up and maintained. If your community has a defensible space ordinance make sure you are compliant, this will save a step in the escrow process. We suggest Defensible Space Solutions to assist you with such needs.  Beautiful and well maintained landscaping gives the right impression to a buyer that the home has been impeccably maintained both inside and out.
• Depending on the status of your home, consider a complete exterior stain including siding and decking. Nothing looks more appealing than vibrant woodwork, and will give the exterior of your home an advantage over the competition.  Also, freshly seal the driveway to give the home a crisp, clean look from the curb. We would suggest Castle Peak Painting for staining work and Shaffer Paving for driveway sealing.