Don’t even think about selling your home in Thousand Oaks before following these 5 steps!
Hey there, it’s Emily Berdon, here to give you the information you need before you sell your home. If you don’t already know, I try to create fun, educational real estate videos and blogs to help people in their journey to buying, selling, and relocating to the Conejo Valley.
If you’re considering selling your Conejo Valley home, it would be my pleasure to go into more details than what I can cover in this blog. Reach out to me for a free no-obligation consultation and valuation of your property.
Alright, let’s dive in to 5 Steps to Prepare your Home to Sell!
#1 CHOOSE A REALTOR®
This is a crucial first step.
Choose a Realtor that has a strong market awareness and can see where the market is headed. In a shifting market, you cannot make decisions based on 6 mos, 3 mos, or even 1 month ago, you need to make decisions based on where things are headed.
And be wary of hiring the agent whose name and signs you see everywhere, thinking they are the best. These agents are busy and will probably be too busy to give you the attention you deserve. You may end up getting pawned off on someone else who works under them. That’s typically how it works. When interviewing agents ask them WHO you will be handling your transaction.
You’re also going to want to choose a Realtor that you LIKE. You’ll be spending a good amount of time with this person and communicating with them regularly, so you’re going to want to choose someone who doesn’t annoy you:)
Also, Make sure they have a strong digital marketing plan. Almost half of today’s homebuyers are millennials and the old-school marketing techniques do not grab their attention. They do ALL their research online, so make sure your Realtor has a marketing plan that will appeal to these buyers.
Then you’re going to want to discuss Steps 2-5 with your Realtor and make sure you …
#2 TIME THE MARKET
We all know the age-old adage about Realtors always saying “NOW is a great time to sell!” But this is not totally true for certain suburban markets like ours. There is Seasonality to our market. There are months that are better than others to list your home. If you list at the end of summer, just as the kids are going back to school, you will not get as much traffic as you would if you listed your home in the Spring.
#3 GET REAL ABOUT THE CONDITION OF YOUR HOME
Be wary if your Realtor tells you “your home is beautiful, it looks great, let’s list it”. Pretty much every home needs some amount of improvement on the condition. Whether that be decluttering, painting, repairs, or freshening up the exterior. There is always work you can do to improve the condition. And the condition of your home MATTERS to buyers. You only have 1 chance to make a 1st impression, so make it count.
On that note, I just want to touch on something that I’ve talked about in another blog. Getting your own inspection done prior to listing. Most sellers don’t do this. But most sellers are also caught off guard when buyers complete their inspections and find $1000’s of dollars in repairs that are needed. The inspectors job is to find everything that is wrong with your home and trust me, they will find many things. Doing inspections ahead of time, making repairs and disclosing known issues can save you headache later on.
#4 PRICE PROPERLY
Condition and Pricing are the 2 most important steps in preparing your home to sell.
Pricing your home too high could deter qualified buyers, or worse, result in you having to do a price reduction, which you really want to try and avoid. When you over price and then reduce, it makes buyers wonder what’s wrong with the house, and they start questioning and picking apart everything about the home. You de-value your home by over-pricing it.
Pricing too low can sometimes lead to a bidding war (if we are in a hot market where homes are flying off the shelves), but this doesn’t always work, and sometimes sellers end up leaving money on the table as a result.
This is where you need to work with your Realtor to understand the Comps (comps are comparable homes that have sold within the last 6 months) and to understand the market in order to price appropriately.
#5 MAKE YOUR HOME ACCESSIBLE
Now that you’ve found a great Realtor, you’ve timed the market, you’ve got your home in excellent condition and it’s priced properly, it is imperative that you make your home as accessible and easy to show as possible.
If a buyer wants to see your home on Thursday and you say “Thursday isn’t good for me”, well, they’ll probably go see another house on Thursday and possibly put in an offer without ever seeing yours. You’ve got to make it easy for them.
I tell my clients to have a “go-box” like a laundry basket, that they can throw all their personal belongings in, plus items that are sitting out on counters, etc. Just toss it all in the go-box so you can get out of the house quickly when a buyer wants a showing.
The more accessible your home is, the more showings you’ll get. The more showings you get, the more offers you get…the more offers you get… you see where I’m going with this?
BE SURE TO READ MY NEXT BLOG
If you’re considering selling your home, reach out and ask for a copy of my 16 point Marketing Plan that will get more eyes on your listing, ultimately resulting in the highest price and best terms for you!
Then be sure to read my blog on 6 tips for getting top dollar for your home.
For me, real estate is not just a transaction, it’s also personal. It is a privilege to play a meaningful role in helping you move on to the next chapter in your life’s story.
emilyberdonRE@gmail.com
CALBRE #02166248
Aviara Real Estate
