Preparing your home for sale
Sellers lose money two ways here: by skipping preparation, and by spending on the wrong preparation. The second is more co how we decide what is worth doing to a Marin home before it goes on the market.
The principle
Buyers price what they can see and what they fear. Work that changes a first impression, or removes a worry, tends to return its cost. W taste usually does not, because the next owner has their own taste and will not pay for yours.
That is why the answer is so often "less than you think, in a specific order" rather than a renovation.
Usually worth it
- Deep cleaning, inside and out
- Paint where it is tired or dark
- Landscaping and the approach to the front door
- Lighting, and replacing dead bulbs
- Small repairs that look like neglect
- Decluttering, and storing what is left
- Staging, where the house is empty or hard to read
Usually not
- Full kitchen or bathroom renovations
- Additions or reconfigured floor plans
- High-end finishes above the neighborhood
- Pools, spas and major landscaping projects
- Solar added shortly before listing
- Anything that delays the listing by months for a marginal gain
These are starting points, not rules. A kitchen so dated discount the entire house is worth addressing; a kitchen that is merely not to current taste is not. That call gets made standing in the r the competition offers.
The order we work in
- Walk the house together. We go room by room and note what a buyer will notice, then price the work honestly, includin to return.
- Reports first, if we are doing them. I change the plan. Better to know before you spend on paint.
- Repairs, then surfaces. Fix what is br improving what is visible, or the finish work gets undone.
- Clean, declutter, stage. The last week is when a prepared house starts to look like the listing.
- Photography and launch. Photos are tak finished, never during.
About pre-sale inspections
In Marin it is common for sellers to provide inspection reports up front. It is usually worth doing. Buyers write more informed offer renegotiation after acceptance, and you get to fix or price an issue on your own terms rather than under time pressure in escrow.
A report also tells you where not to spend. It is easier to decline work knowingly than to guess at what a buyer's inspector might f
How long it takes
Light preparation, cleaning, paint, landscaping and small repairs, usually runs two to four weeks depending on trade availability. Mor takes longer, and that is a scheduling decision we make with your timeline in view rather than a reason to rush the listing.
Not sure what your house needs?
A walk-through costs nothing and to selling. We will tell you what is worth doing, what is not, and roughly what each would cost. Get in touch with Th Team.
Thorne Home Team · Naomi Thorne, CalR · Katherine Thorne, CalRE #01988117
© 2022 Coldwell Banker Realty
©2022 Coldwell Banker. All Rights Reserved. Coldwell Banker and the Coldwell Banker logos are trademarks of Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC. The Coldwell Banker® System is comprised of company owned offices which are owned by a subsidiary of Anywhere Advisors LLC and franchised offices which are independently owned and operated. The Coldwell Banker System fully supports the principles of the Fair Housing Act and the Equal Opportunity Act.
