The 2nd time’s the charm! My clients were ready to retire out of state. When we met initially, I let them know that we could sell their home in any condition, we’d just need to price it to match the condition. They didn’t have a lot of cash on hand before selling, so they wanted to spend the least amount of money preparing their home for sale. They chose to skip painting, flooring and staging. We listed their home at a price considerably lower than similar homes nearby in October. We got a lot of people through the home, but no offers after over a month. The sellers really wanted to get it sold, so dropped the price $50,000. Even at a price far lower than any nearby homes, there were still no offers. Buyers couldn’t see past the old paint and odd flooring even at a far below market price. It was now almost Thanksgiving. We would have needed to drop the price another $50,000 to get any attention. The real estate market is typically very slow between Thanksgiving and the New Year. Buyers attention is divided and focused on the holidays. Sellers don’t want to keep their house show-ready at all times when family is visiting. It’s just not a great time to be selling your home.

We regrouped and discussed their options. I advised them to take their home off the market during the holidays for 60 days to reset the “days on market” counter. I let them know about the Compass Concierge Loan program that would allow them to borrow funds for home preparation and pay it back at closing. During the holidays, we painted, carpeted and staged. We re-listed in January and got a fabulous offer far over the original price with in 10 days.

This just goes to show that painting, flooring and staging are worth it nearly every time. The price of not doing these tasks is very high. Buyers discount the worth of a property far more than it costs to make the corrections.

If you are thinking of selling in the next year or two, and wonder what projects are worth the time and money – give us a call! We would love to see your home and help you figure out what is worth doing!

Before

After Painting, Carpeting and Staging