The 5 Steps to Listing Prep & How to Prep Your Home for sale for $0 Out Of Pocket Up Front!

When you look around your home and contemplate selling – do you see a laundry list of projects that need to be completed before your home is ready to be sold?   Which projects should you do, and which ones might be better left to the next owners? Hello everyone and welcome back to Denver Boulder Living.  I’m Renee Sobering, realtor with Team Sobering  and today we’re going to discuss pre-listing home preparation – what to do, what not to do, and how to prep your home for sale with $0 out of pocket up front. 

One of the questions I get asked most often by prospective sellers is this:  What to I NEED to do to my home to sell it for the most money possible?  To sell a home for top dollar, you MUST do these 5 things:    

1) DECLUTTERING  & DEPERSONALIZAION – We’re not talking about a gentle spring cleaning here – we’re talking about creating a “blank slate” so that Buyers can see themselves living in the home.  Remove and store ALL personalized photos and artwork, remove and store excess furniture, and remove, store, and/or organize all objects on all horizontal surfaces – Counters, shelves,  tables, vanity tops, dressers, and nightstands should all be free of clutter.  Pack up and store unused items in the garage, a storage unit, or possibly a POD style moving container, although the moving containers are not great for curb appeal!  Buyers can forgive a garage full of moving boxes, but they cannot forget a cluttered home. 

2)RENOVATING and/or Refreshing outdated finishes in your home.  This is the BIG ONE!!   We’re not talking about a full-home renovation (depending on your home’s current condition), and you may choose to tackle all or NONE of these before selling. Just be aware that that decision WILL AFFECT YOUR SALE PRICE.  Now there are 4 places where you will get more bang for your buck when renovating before selling: 

First, is the KITCHEN:  This does not necessarily mean ripping out your old cabinets and counters and starting from scratch.  Depending on the condition of your cabinets, a good cabinet paint job can go a long ways, add new counters and updated appliances, and it can seem like a brand new kitchen for a fraction of  the cost.  For some kitchens, changing out an outdated backsplash is all it takes. 

Second is the BATHROOMS:  Again, depending on the situation, this may not mean tearing out your current shower or tub. There are so many companies that refinish tubs and showers these days…. You can get a brand new looking tub or shower in one day for ½ the cost of replacement.  A bit of new flooring and an updated vanity and light fixtures and you have yourself an updated bathroom! 

Third is FRESH LOOKING PAINT:  With a neutral color pallet –  if you already have a neutral color on your walls, and you have extra paint in the basement that matches your current  walls, bring it out and freshen things up………… make sure it really does match before you start, though – both COLOR AND SHEEN!!!!   Trust me on this!  Make sure to touch up your trim paint as well – fresh paint on the walls will do you absolutely no good if your trim is dingy looking and dinged up.  Finally, if you have colors in your home that might be seen at a circus….. I would suggest neutralizing those colors before listing your home for sale.  Not sure about your circus colors? Feel free to message me, and I’ll let you know. 

Fourth is FLOORING:  Fresh paint and an updated kitchen are great, but if the floors are in horrible condition, all the buyers will see is $$$$$.     Options to freshen up flooring are things like refinishing your hardwood floors, professional carpet cleaning….. I’ve even seen some people update their old 12×12 ceramic tiles by painting them with a pattern and sealing them. Now this is a fairly labor intensive DIY project, not for the faint of heart, but there is a WEALTH of information out there on how to do this properly.  Sometimes, however, replacement is necessary, and luckily, we have a GREAT flooring contractor we can refer you to, if you need it.

We’ve talked about Decluttering & Renovating  – now it’s time to talk about #

3) CURB APPEAL – When updating the inside of your home, it’s really easy to forget that  exterior of your home is actually what Buyers see first, and especially when selling,  we want it to give them a good first impression.  Fresh paint, and a tidy front yard will show that your home is well cared for and inviting. 

4 )DEFERRED MAINTENANCE – nothing turns buyers off or brings up doubts about your listing price like deferred maintenance.  Peeling paint or damaged siding on the exterior, non-functional windows, and unfinished or poorly finished projects on the interior are a sure fire way to have Buyers running for the door, or tallying up the cost of all of these items and deducting them from your list price in their heads.  Big-Ticket items like updated HVAC, newer windows, and a newer roof  are helpful when selling a home, but it can be harder to recoup the costs of these items when selling, so I only recommend addressing them if they fall under Deferred Maintenance and absolutely NEED addressing.  Keep in mind…. if the home is beautifully updated, many buyers will opt to deal with having to replace windows  or perhaps the furnace down the road, and as a seller, you can also choose to offer a good home warranty to buyers to cover things like the furnace, the A/C or the appliances for the first year.

5) STAGING –  82% of buyers’ agents said staging a home made it easier for a buyer to visualize the property as a future home (NAR). Whether you are living in the home when it is sold or selling  after you’ve moved out, STAGING is imperative.  It helps the buyer to feel at home during showings, and it helps us to create STUNNING visual marketing that we can use via the MLS and paid digital ads  to market your home to potential buyers.  Staged homes sell for 25% more than those that are not staged (Realtor Magazine), and a professionally staged home spends 73% LESS time on the market (Professional Staging).   

 Alright, we’ve discussed the 5 things you SHOULD do to prepare your home for the market, and it may all seem a bit overwhelming, but bear with me.  Let’s talk about my hypothetical client, Betty:  …..  Betty wants to sell her home, but she knows that she needs to do some updating for it to look good in photos and on showings….. Betty calls multiple contractors for various jobs, and only hears back from a handful.  Of the handful that call her back, only one or two actually show up for their appointment, and the estimates they provide are a BIT more than she was expecting.   She doesn’t want to pull money out of her retirement for renovations, so she thinks about doing the work herself – I mean, you can practically learn how to do anything on Youtube, right?  But she works full time and doesn’t know how she will find time to get the work done, not to mention choosing paint colors and finishes….  What should Betty do? 

If you answered “call Team Sobering”, then you are absolutely correct!!  Most people want to sell their home for the most  money possible.  Most people also agree that in order for a home to sell quickly and for the most money possible, it needs to be clean, beautifully updated, and staged (if at all possible). Now there are 3 reasons people don’t update their homes before selling

1-MONEY – They don’t have the money – perhaps they have plenty of equity in their home,  and/or money in a retirement account, but they don’t have $5,000 – $50,000 – $100,000 in cash just laying around to spend on renovations, and don’t want the tax implications of pulling money out of their retirement just to get their home ready to sell. 

2-TIME _ They don’t have the time – they work full time, they have kids, they’ve got other obligations.  Time is a commodity and there are only so many hours in the day.

3-ENERGY – They don’t have the energy – they know how to do the work, but they just don’t want to.  They want to relax at the end of the day, not deal with drywall mud, and Who can blame them!?

So, why call Team Sobering – what can we do about this?  Are we going to twist your arm to get you to pony up the money for renovations or beg you to dig into the drywall after work?  NOPE!!!   What if I told you could have a contractor that  would show up, pick all the design finishes, and do amazing work for your pre-listing renovation, and you wouldn’t have to pay them a dime until closing? Sounds too good to be true, doesn’t it?  Well, it’s not!!! We work with multiple companies that provide this type of service, saving our sellers  time, energy, and stress in the pre-listing process. 

So, you are considering selling your home, contact us!    We can connect you with the professionals you need to get your home in tip-top shape!   Now, if you  WANT to do the pre-listing work yourself to save money,  call Team Sobering first, and we’ll come in and do a free design consultation to help you plan out your renovation to maximize your return on investment.  Nothing hurts my soul more than to arrive at a listing appointment and see updates and upgrades that the Sellers have spent thousands of dollars of their hard earned money on that are NOT in line with what current Buyers are looking for.  Let’s work together to make sure that doesn’t happen to you! 

Thank you so much for joining me today for our discussion on pre-listing do’s and don’ts and how to get your home show ready for $0 out of pocket up front.   Be sure to watch our other videos in our Seller Series on home pricing,  market timing, and pre-listing timelines.  I’m Renee Sobering with Team Sobering and Denver Boulder Living.  Like, subscribe and check out our socials for more information on Real Estate in and around Broomfield, Colorado – Have a great day!