When you list your home for sale, you want to get top dollar for it. In order to do so, you need to present the home to prospective buyers in such a way that they view it as “move in ready”. Sure there investors, do it yourself improvement types out there that can see past some cosmetic issues. However the purpose of this blog post is for the majority of “Turn Key” Gen Y and Millennial type buyers.
The most important 4 things to focus on are as follows:
- Clean – Free of clutter and fresh. Items all over the counters, kids toys everywhere, pictures all over the walls are distracting from the home. Buyers prefer a near sterile and un-lived in look when viewing homes. This may be difficult to achieve if you are still living in the home or renting it, but its what you should aim for.
- Paint – Right now we’ve had the most success with repainting walls with shades of gray and painting trim white. Its a great way to freshen up tired Oak and Cherry trim that is out of style. A fresh coat of paint also gives the home a clean look and shows buyers that its ready to simply move in and enjoy.
- Flooring – This is an area where sellers typically will see a good return on investment compared to other improvements. Carpets should be cleaned as necessary, wood floors buffed and coated with a poly.
- Kitchen Appliances – If you have older or less desirable appliances in your kitchen there are cost effective was to improve the situation. We recommend that you consider a matching set of refurbished appliances. It will cost a fraction of new and make a big difference.
One thing to give consideration to is that most buyers are buying with FHA Financing and putting only 3.5% down. They will have plenty of other expenses associated to moving and buying new furniture. To the extent that they can buy a home that is move in ready, and limits any additional cash outlays, the better. These are the buyers who will pay top dollar for something that simply needs nothing.