In a recent post, I shared some reviews from sellers I worked with in the past year, all of whom were very pleased with the sale price they got on their home. As I mentioned, getting top dollar for a home often requires an upfront investment on the part of the seller. Meaning, you may need to spend some money to shine up a house you’re about to leave. Believe me, this is not something anyone is eager to do.

When I meet with you about marketing your house, I’ll explain all your options. I will tell you what could be done to your house before listing it, and what type of return you are likely to see from doing those things. Similarly, I will lay out what it will cost to not do certain things. For example, that $1,000 paint job the seller opts not to do often turns into a $2,000 deduction they need to give the buyer to seal the deal. It’s almost always better for you if you get the work done yourself!

Even if you bought your home five years ago and you moved into a house that was perfect and newly done, that pristine space is now “lived in.”  Before going to market, it is worth it to take care of the fingerprints on the walls and the dings on the cabinets —things you might not bother doing if you were going to stay in the house.

Together, my clients and I strategize how to best use their resources. It’s not unusual for a family to take out a short-term loan for $10,000 of improvements and have that yield an extra $50,000 in the sale. In fact, I just read a statistic about one of the big real-estate portal companies that has gotten into the home-buying business. This company will buy a home for, say, $310,000 and spend $10K doing painting and minor repairs. They then turn around and immediately sell for $350K.

This practice is not considered “flipping.” They’re just jumping on an opportunity to buy houses in which the sellers failed to do some very basic maintenance before going to market; they make a nice, quick profit on easy fixes. 

Most everyone has the same initial reaction: I want to save my money and spend it on fixing my new house. As far as I’m concerned, you should not feel pressured to do anything you don’t want to. But as your marketing partner, it is my job to present you options and educate you on how you can benefit from this tried-and-true equation. This gives you the information to make the best choice for you.

And it is a choice. Once upon a time, making small improvements may have made a difference between a house selling and not selling. Not these days. In this market, Your house will sell whether you fix it up or not. Instead, it has become a matter of how much more you can get for it.

If you'd like to talk about how to squeeze out all the equity your home has to offer, call or text! 

973-809-5277

According to a blog post on Inman.com this past spring, these six things that have been shown to increase home value:

Living Near Parks, Golf Courses and Open Spaces Living Near a Wal-Mart Walkability (!!!) Additional Dwelling Spaces Living Near a Professional Sports Arena Lots of Mature [...]

With the start of  the new year, why not make a new New Year's resolution? Instead of vowing to exercise more or eat healthier (not that these aren't worthy goals), you might want to resolve to become a homeowner. If you've previously been a renter, buying a home may seem overwhelming. This really is the perfect time to buy a home, though: [...]

Home sellers in Glen Ridge and Montclair often ask me- should I renovate my kitchen before putting it on the market?  There is not always a straightforward answer but this may lend some insight.

I've always liked the idea of solar energy: it's non-polluting, infinitely renewable, and available domestically. Now, thanks to a 30 % federal tax credit  and the ability to sell [...]

Some of my seller clients spend several months and thousands of dollars upgrading a home before putting it on the market.  But for homeowners who are short on time and cash, there are some very effective smaller  projects that will increase value and reduce [...]

Real estate is always a "good news-bad news" business. The most obvious example of this is an overheated market: great news for home sellers, lousy news for home buyers.  An article I read recently in [...]

I had a lovely client who along with her partner wanted to rent a house on a big property so their dogs could run.   We found her a great place, and the lease was signed.  She paid all the fees and deposits. And then days before the move in date, she had to back out of the deal because she lost her job.  She was a project manager on the [...]

Many first-time home buyers are intent on getting the best deal possible - not a bad strategy at all.  But many buyers forget that "the best deal" depends both on house price and mortgage rate (unless you're one of the lucky few who intend to pay all cash).  Remember this handy little equation: [...]

If you are reading this, you are probably one of the 90% of buyers who searched for a home online this year.  According to the National Association of Realtors only 37% performed this activity 10 years ago.  Here are 7 stats that have changed - or not changed over the past [...]