Be informed and be prepared. Great advice for success in most things, including getting top dollar out of your home and making the home selling process as smooth as possible. Maybe you’re hunkered down in your home for the long haul and selling is in the way distant future, or you’re seeing your last child off to college next year and you’ll be ready to downsize then, or perhaps you’re finally ready to buy that lake home this summer. In any case, it’s good to know what factors have the most impact on the value of your home so you’re ready to go when the time is right to sell.
Maintenance and Mechanicals
We thought we’d address this one first because we all know it is everyone’s least favorite place to spend money! But the reality is that keeping up-to-date with maintenance is important. Addressing issues as they happen keeps repair costs in check. A leaky faucet or a running toilet, if not handled quickly, can turn from an inexpensive fix to significant and costly damage to floors and ceilings over time. And preventative maintenance like getting your furnace and A/C unit serviced yearly is a homeowner’s best practice. Even if your home appeals to a buyer on every aesthetic level, deferred maintenance issues typically come up during negotiations so investing in regular maintenance will pay off in the end
De-Clutter a Little Each Year
Home buying is emotional and many buyers make an instant decision as to whether they like a home or not based on what it feels like as soon as they enter the front door. And, believe us, nothing is more visually off-putting to them than stuff everywhere. That can even be your beloved knickknacks taking up every possible surface and/or closets and storage areas crammed full.
Decluttering can be a time consuming and emotional chore, especially if you let it get away from you. Our best advise – spend a little bit of time four times a year (that’s with every season change) to sort through your belongings and decide whether an item can be donated, recycled or trashed. Just as home buying is emotional so is home selling, so if you take care of this on an ongoing basis then you won’t be overwhelmed with the years of accumulation that you’ll have to get rid of when you finally decide the time is right to sell
Curb Appeal
The first impression potential buyers will have of your home will be from the street. (That’s after they’ve looked at your home online, of course). And even if a buyer absolutely loves the home on the inside, if the outside doesn’t measure up, it will be an obstacle to overcome.
It’s easy to make sure your home is as appealing as it can be simply by keeping your trees and shrubs trimmed and shaped and planting beds weeded and mulched. Take a walk around your house and yard regularly and take note of cracking caulk or peeling paint and get those taken care of right away too
Easy Upgrades
Even if your home had all the latest upgrades at the time you purchased it, chances are styles and trends have changed a bit since then. And with all the interest in home design with HGTV and Houzz, home buyers are more demanding than ever about having all the finishes current. Some inexpensive upgrades you can do include changing out kitchen cabinet hardware, painting cabinets, upgrading light fixtures and ceiling fans, installing new faucets in the kitchen and bathrooms and, of course, purchasing new stainless steel appliances.
There are more expensive things you can consider to prepare your house for market, but we don’t recommend investing too much money prior to getting an expert opinion. Team Trimble Real Estate agents and other licensed realtors can do a comparable market analysis to help determine the potential value of your home compared to others and use this as a basis to recommend more expensive projects and their potential return on investment.
Team Trimble Real Estate & Keller Williams
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Team Trimble Ladies
We are Team Trimble, a real estate firm specializing in Lake Country. We all love and live in Lake Country – this is where we’ve raised our families, served in the schools, volunteered for charities, and where we’ve been active members of the community for many, many years. We joined together as a team with a common purpose of helping our family, friends, neighbors, and colleagues with their home buying and selling needs, as well as to share the homes of this great area with those looking to join our community. Website / Facebook
Karen Trimble, team leader (front center)Katy Thomas, agent (back row, second from left)Katie Brumder, agent (back row, second from right)Sarah Duchow, agent (front, right)Barbie Sprinkman, agent (front, left)Kathy Popovich, business manager (back row, far left)Becky Batley, marketing coordinator (back row, far right)
We are Team Trimble, a real estate firm specializing in Lake Country. We all love and live in Lake Country – this is where we’ve raised our families, served in the schools, volunteered for charities, and where we’ve been active members of the community for many, many years. We joined together as a team with a common purpose of helping our family, friends, neighbors, and colleagues with their home buying and selling needs, as well as to share the homes of this great area with those looking to join our community.
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