12 Secrets for a Seamless Home Sale
Rebecca Bomann, the CEO of SASH Services, joins Suzanne Newman to talk about tips to help get your house ready to be sold. Rebecca has used these tips herself, helping hundreds of families. Whether you’re an empty-nester or looking for a senior loved one who’s lived in their house for 50 years, often a move seems like a mountain of a challenge. These low-cost suggestions will maximize your net proceeds!
Pack first.
Everyone plans to bring most things when they move, but the mistake is waiting to pack till after photography and listing, which makes a house look full and prevents prospective buyers from envisioning their own belongings in your house. Pack prior to photography, as many things as you don’t need daily, putting it in the garage or a storage unit. Your house will show so much better.
Sell some things.
For people feeling pressured by the costs of getting everything ready, keep in mind some things probably won’t be moved into a new place. Some items won’t fit, or there’s an old record collection not listened to in decades, or maybe some World War II memorabilia in the attic. These items could be auctioned or sold in order to pay money for sprucing up the house. Even a few hundred or thousand raised help. And it helps empty the house for moving. A live garage sale, estate sales, online auction sites, and for sale apps.
Take down heavy drapes and window coverings.
When you put a home on the market, you want to show off the view and allow natural light to come in, as it makes each room and the whole house feel bigger, more cheerful, welcoming, and inviting. It makes a big difference.
Swap out old and low-watt bulbs for bright new ones.
It avoids dark hallways and closets, and at least 60-watt bulbs, so each room is well-lit.
Remove family photos and paintings.
When prospective buys see family photos, they feel like they’re intruding on your privacy. Leave two or three, but pack up the rest. It cleans, declutters, and makes rooms look bigger. Let a down-sizer explain the reasoning, while family members can be supportive. Acknowledge how special the home is, compliment all of the photos and art, while explaining that these photos and paintings will get packed for moving, so pack these items now, so prospective buyers will be able envision the home as it might be for them.
Do a professional deep cleaning.
Let a professional do it. They will even clean the tops of doorways and ceiling fans, clean blinds, and get behind doors and fridges. A sparkly clean house will smell good.
Pressure wash the outside.
You don’t have to repaint the exterior, but a light pressure washing will give it a bath, removing dust and cobwebs. Also, driveways, walkways, and stairs will remove moss and rocks. You can rent a pressure washer or have a professional do it. Don’t wash the room; it will take years off its life.
Buy a new welcome mat.
A welcoming, modern mat for the front door.
Clean up the patio.
Rebecca has seen flower pots with dying plants, wind chimes, drink cups, potting soil, garden gnomes, umbrellas, and more. It’s important for people to see the yard as an extension of the house, like an outside living room, so dress it up just as well as the living room. Declutter and wash it. Leave two chairs and some fresh flowers nearby. Clean a BBQ.
Retro decor is OK.
Sometimes people have older finishes in their home: dark paneling from the 70s, avocado counters, pink tile in bathrooms, or bright-colored carpets. People fear that they’ll have to renovate all that, but that’s a myth. We can make it look great and still get bidding wars, just by following the other tips. By not renovating, you’re appealing to people who want to do their own updating, and it will be priced less so more buyers can afford it. Right now, the market is such that it’s not profitable to renovate. People who appraise and finance your house don’t worry about its appearance, but rather things like the age of the roof, the condition of the furnace, and that there are no electrical hazards. It’s already stressful to move, so why add to that with the stress of doing renovations? If you only have a limited amount of money to spend, spend it on things that help a buyer qualify to buy it, so that it passes an inspection and appraises well.
Add a fresh scent.
Apple cinnamon or raspberry, with fragrances that aren’t plugged in chemicals that could trigger allergies, a bowl of pot pourri, providing a pleasant scent.
Leave while it’s listed.
If you’re still living in the house, and have to make the bed, do dishes, and clean laundry before each showing, that keeps buyers waiting. Eight showings in a day means eight times to get ready. If at all possible, don’t be in the home during the first two weeks of the listing. This is the most active time of the listing.
SASH Services (Sell a Senior Home) was founded in 2005 as a blend of real estate, senior care, and social work to provide seniors and their families with home-sale options that are not typical, that are designed around their needs. They provide specialized services that lift the selling burden off the senior homeowner and their family while maximizing what can be earned from the home. SASH serves most of western Washington in the Pacific Northwest. If you’re out of state, they can steer you to a qualified professional in your area. Find more at SASHservices.com or call 888-400-SASH.
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Originally published April 30, 2024
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