Sale prices may not be where we want them to be (as sellers and homeowners) but sales activity continues to remain steady with some properties attracting multiple bids and near-asking sale prices. It’s a little hard these days to push the envelope on pricing – market value is going to become evident in the first few weeks that your house is listed and you and your agent will have only limited control over the final sale price.
What you can control is how the house shows. I often tell prospective sellers to start packing. Less is more, de-clutter and neutralize. You are selling a house, not your home – to a buyer who is looking for a house which they can envision as their home. You need to make it easy for them to do that.
Sharon Tara, a stager in NH wrote a great article for a real estate forum that I frequent. She says that when preparing your house for sale, you should consider the “Perfect Crime”. Today’s buyers are like the detectives in those old time movies: leave them the smallest amount of evidence and they will find a way to use it against you!
She suggests that successfully selling your house requires leaving no evidence at the scene. Remove the DNA – your family photos, diplomas and degrees. Clean up the fingerprints – medical equipment, medications, hobbies and collections. Allow a prospective buyer to walk through your house and imagine it as their home. I do not think you have to take away everything; it is important that your house be warm and inviting. But it should be presented in a way that is universally accepted as such: chocolate chip cookies or apple spices are much better aromas than last night’s garlic casserole!
Additionally, you should be prepared to flee the scene at a moment’s notice! It is virtually impossible to keep your house in show shape 24 hours a day – but, of course, that is what today’s detectives expect (oops, I meant buyers). I often tell people that we understand that people live here – and if you are feeding a toddler three meals a day it’s okay to leave the high chair in the kitchen. But it’s a good idea to keep a laundry basket or a plastic tote by the front door to hold the remnants of quick clean up so you can leave in a hurry if an agent calls to schedule a last minute showing.
The best way to ensure that your house will sell is to price it right and make sure it shows PERFECTLY.
