Selling a Home in Spokane, Washington

Selling your home is an involved process that affects your family and your future.  Before you begin this process, you'll want to ensure that you have the most up-to-date information.  When should you sell?  How do you get the best price? What kinds of renovations should be made prior to the sale?  Once your home goes on the market, it becomes a product. Home Styling or Staging simply allows you to highlight the best of your home and de-emphasize its flaws. It's not about decorating, but actually turning your home into a model, to appeal to the broadest range of prospective buyers. The goal is to make people feel like they could live there, and the best way to do this is to "neutralize" the surroundings.   Try out these helpful styling tips taken from Setting the Stage - REALTOR® Magazine Online. They've compiled the best tips from stagers and real estate pros—things you can do for little or no expense—to put a home in prime showing shape. Clear out closets and clutter—sellers can give away or pack up toys, linens, and small kitchen appliances to store offsite. Buyers are also forgiving of storage boxes neatly tucked away in a garage or basement. Focus most on the most visible areas—the foyer, kitchen, living room, master bedroom, and family room. De-personalize the home by removing photos, mementos, and dated items. Use plants in colorful pots or inexpensive wicker baskets to fill in empty spaces. Look to home catalogs for little details on beautifying the home. For instance, group books, pictures, and objets d’art appealingly on bookcases. Try angling one or two pieces of furniture slightly and move furniture 4 inches to 6 inches from the wall to create more interesting room spaces. Put away large collections— porcelains, plates, and so on. Remove valuables, prescription medicine, collectibles, and breakables. Trim trees, prune shrubs, and make sure the lawn is mowed and watered regularly. In summer, turn on the sprinklers for five minutes, 30 minutes before the open house. It makes the lawn and driveway sparkle. Refrain from cooking anything that leaves a distinctive odor, such as fish, garlic, or cabbage. Hire a professional service to clean the home, including the carpets and the windows. Set the dining room table with attractive linens, dishes, and stemware. Arrange fresh or silk flowers throughout the home. Light a fire in the fireplace in fall and winter. A mirror in a pretty frame can make a small room feel more open. Use as much natural light as possible. Add extra lamps in dark rooms or corners. Make functional repairs—fix dripping faucets, sticking doors, and broken fences. Bring in another pair of eyes—even if it’s not a professional stylist. The person may see problems you and have missed. The Right Selling Price Affects Your Bottom Line When you’re selling your home, the price you set is a critical factor in the return you’ll receive. That’s why you need a professional evaluation from an experienced realtor. This person can provide you with an honest assessment of your home, based on several factors including: Market conditions Condition of your home Repairs or improvements Time frame In real estate terms, market value is the price at which a particular house, in its current condition, will sell within 30 to 90 days. If the price of your home is too high, several things could happen: Limits buyers. Potential buyers may not view your home, because it would be out of their buying range. Limits showings. Other salespeople may be less reluctant to view your home. Used as leverage. Other realtors may use this home to sell against homes that are better priced. Extended stay on the market. When a home is on the market too long, it may be perceived as defective. Buyers may wonder, “what’s wrong,” or “why hasn’t this sold?” Lower price. An overpriced home, still on the market beyond the average selling time, could lead a lower selling price. To sell it, you will have to reduce the price, sometimes, several times. In the end, you’ll probably get less than if it had been properly priced at the start. Wasted time and energy. A bank appraisal is most often required to finance a home. Realtors have known it for years – Well-kept homes, properly priced in the beginning always get you the fast sale for the best price! Selling your home: Where to begin? First Impressions Remember what first attracted you to your house when you bought it? What excited you about its most appealing features? Now that you're selling your home, you'll need to look at it as if you were buying it all over again. A spruced up house makes a great first impression on potential buyers. An attractive property grabs their attention and makes them excited about finding a house that looks and feels well-cared for. Because buyers know they’ll encounter fewer problems if they buy it, your house becomes more appealing and stands out from the competition. So if you prepare your home correctly, you’ll save time selling it when it’s on the market. A good first impression makes an impact on a number of levels. It’s not just the way your house looks to potential buyers, but how it feels and smells to them, how their friends and family will react, how they imagine it would be to live there. With simple improvements throughout your house, you can grab the attention of potential buyers and help them see why your house is right for them. The Sweet Smell of a Successful Sale     Scents and aromas can have a dramatic impact on people’s emotions, otherwise, there wouldn’t be a multi-billion-dollar fragrance industry! Don’t ignore the power of fragrance when showing your home. Smoke, pet odors, and cooking smells can each dramatically impact how potential buyers feel about your house. If your potential buyers never form an emotional connection to your home, chances are that they will remain just that – potential buyers. Don’t allow smoking in your house for weeks leading up to showing it, find a pet-sitter for a few days, and clean, clean, clean! Once you’ve removed any aromas that might be off-putting and freshened the air in your home, you can actually use scent to your advantage. Consider doing some baking prior to showings. The scent of fresh apple pie is hard to beat when it comes to creating the atmosphere of a welcoming home! TIP: In a pinch, a mixture of water, vanilla extract, and brown sugar in an oven on low heat can be used to create the pleasing aroma of fresh baking. To a certain extent, buyers make purchase decisions based on their emotional response, so it’s important to make it easy for them to fall in love with your home. Pleasant smells are one more way to do so. 1. Be informed Have a smooth, successful, stress-free sale. 2. Determine your needs/wants for the sale and for your new home Selling your primary residence can be tricky because you have to simultaneously be thinking about where you would like to buy. First weigh your priorities – selling price is certainly important, but having a quick and efficient sale can often be worth accepting a slightly lower offer. Make sure you’re comfortable with where your priorities are.  At the same time, you should be compiling a needs/wants list for the home you will buy. You will probably have to act fairly quickly when your house sells, so any amount of preparation you can do will serve you well. 3. Prepare your house for showing Underprepared homes can be sales disasters. Your home will never get as much attention from potential buyers as when it is first listed, so clearing clutter, cleaning, making repairs, and putting your home’s best foot forward is essential. Don’t “open for business” until your home is ready to be seen as favorably as possible. 4. Find out what your local market looks like Being realistic about your market is the key to a smooth sale. There is no substitute for a professional real estate representative when it comes to local market knowledge. 5. List away! Lots of photos and online exposure are the key to getting a good response for your listing. Working with an agent who uses Point2 Agent software is a great step in the right direction. Now just “open” the house and sit back and wait for the flood of eager buyers!

Please contact me if you have any questions about selling your Spokane home. 

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