If the time has come to place your La Jolla home on the market, your agent will tell you of things that you can do to promote the sale. For example, your realtor may suggest that you eliminate the clutter or consider “staging your home.” However, there are some things that you’ll likely not hear from your agent. We’ve compiled a list of six examples below:
1. Show Your Home With 15 Minutes Notice
It happens more often than you might think. A seller hears a buyer wants to see the home, now! Saying yes seems to fly in the face of the common wisdom that your home should be spotless for every showing. With only 15 minutes to prepare for a visit, some messiness will inevitably greet your impulsive visitor. The advice here is to go ahead anyhow. A buyer typically understands that their last-minute request is a bit of an imposition. Such a buyer is likely to look past some unkempt areas.
Plus, an impulsive visit might lead to an impulsive decision to make an offer on your home. So, make the effort to accommodate a last-minute showing. You might just be rewarded for your efforts.
2. An Empty House Is Not Always a Bigger House
Regardless of what some real estate agents might suggest, buyers aren’t really fooled into thinking that an unfurnished home is larger than it is. If anything, they may overcompensate as they try to visualize the impact of furniture in the home. That is, they see an empty room, but they imagine a room more filled up with furniture than it really would be.
A furnished home will give the buyer a quick, clear idea of what it might look like if they were to live there themselves. Finally, a properly furnished property will almost always look much more warm and inviting.
3. Air Fresheners Are Not the Solution
Many an agent will automatically tell sellers to use plug-in air fresheners to make the home seem more inviting. It is true that one can create certain moods with certain fragrances, but there is a downside to this tactic. A buyer often arrives in a slightly skeptical mood anyhow. The air freshener scent may actually arouse some suspicion. He or she may think, “What are they trying to hide?”
The better approach is to “go natural.” Bake some chocolate cookies, for example, and let the resulting scent waft through your home instead.
4. My Home Is Worth How Much?
The old adage, “if it’s too good to be true …” applies here. Most Real estate agents will be guided by a comparative market analysis (CMA) as they establish the current market values of homes that that they want to list. Such an analysis look at recently sold homes in a given La Jolla neighborhood to establish a proper asking price for a home.
However, an occasional agent will try to “buy the listing” by convincing the seller that he/she is certain that a higher asking price is justified. The CMA is disregarded, and the agent fills the seller’s head with thoughts of all the extra money to be made.
In turn, astute buyers will merely pass over the overpriced home and move on. A home that is unrealistically valued is often a home that sits unsold. It can be very hard on a seller to see a similar home in the neighborhood sold while their home remains on the market, garnering little or no interest.
5. Clean Those Countertops
A little messiness around the home may be acceptable, especially with last-minute showings. However, pay special attention to bathroom and kitchen countertops. The more spacious the countertops appear, the more appealing those parts of the house will be.
6. Attend to the Neighbor’s Lawn
So you’ve done everything you can think of to put your property in the best light, but the lawn next-door looks like it could be cut for hay. If curb appeal and first impressions are important elements in selling real estate, perhaps it is advisable to go a step further — offer to cut your neighbor’s unkempt lawn! A little effort can go a long way as that next prospective buyer drives up.
