Part II of: Spring Forward Ideas

April 8, 2007

Last week, you read several suggestions on how to Think Forward when doing your spring spruce up in anticipation of listing this fall.  Rather than wait all summer to start, you can be doing things in advance that can help you add real numbers to the bottom line!

So here goes:

1) The closet(s).  If your plan is to live in the home while it is on the market, then you need to spring clean in a crazy, crazy way!  Your closets full of everything from the shoes you were born in to the dress you got at that garage sale 14 years ago that you might fit into (someday) will not impress buyers.  Remember when you bought the house and were amazed with the storage space in the home? Well, you’re moving!  Someone else needs to be just as impressed! (By the way, what if the storage was never great in the first place? Simple fix- get rid of everything but the clothes you’re wearing tomorrow!)

2) The kitchen.  Storage in this area is primo, and clutter will kill the deal before it even starts.  Like I said above, I am sure you will someday use that bread maker you got on your wedding day 25 years ago, but wow- maybe someone would use it now?  Can you say garage sale?

3) The pantry.  Are you sensing a theme?  Yeah, this needs an overhaul as well.  Think back to those days when you worked at the corner store (or shopped in one).  Face and front your shelves, organize the cans, separate the boxes, clear out the clutter.  Here’s a thought- get rid of all of those sweets you’ve been swearing off for the last three years!  The added (pantry) space will add value.  And no, I did not just say you needed a diet!

4) The garage.  Yeah, I am talking to you, guys.  It’s time to sell that old car you’ve been promising the wife you would fix and drive her down the coast in some day.  In case you guys haven’t heard, Austin has no coast line…  Anyway, clean it up and get the cars that actually start in there.

Here is a tip:  Everyone suggests you have a community garage sale.  No- have one yourself.  Why would you want to compete with your nosy neighbors as they suck up all the money?  I recommend you simply organize quietly and advertise in the paper and any other free publication you can find.  Let it be a surprise to your neighbors’ wallet this weekend!

5) This is totally off the subject of space- this is one you all overlook, but buyers zero in on every time.  If your baseboards where originally white when you moved in?  You may want to make them white again!  Pine Sol- works like a charm. 

Tip Two:  (I should charge for this- really!)  Know your buyers!  No, don’t stalk them- know where they’re coming from.  By this I mean, head out to one of Austin’s newest and brightest luxury apartment communities.  Ask to see a “made ready unit”.  When you’re in it, look at the details, such as the screws in every outlet plate that face up and down, or how about how well the carpet is cleaned, or how white those baseboards are!  This is a great place to learn what your buyers are used to living in!  Another place to look is at some new construction homes! (No, not the models- bad idea, Ill explain next week!)  This will be a healthy reminder of what your new home may have looked like when you moved in- and the new homes you may be competing with.  You can’t add a second story, but you can make it just as fresh- I cannot say paint, paint, paint, paint, paint enough.  Paint can add tens of thousands of resale dollars to a home with a serious lived in look and two kiddos!  (More on this next week, I promise!) 

Next Monday I am talking about staging- I have some really good tips for you that you won’t see anywhere else.  So don’t miss it!

Happy Selling!

That Real Estate Guy

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