As your Realtor, my job is to get qualified buyers to see your house through proactive marketing. But, no mater how effective my marketing efforts are, if the house does not present as well or better than its top competitors, it will not sell quickly or for top dollar. Is getting a house ready a lot of work? Sometimes. But it will be worth it when you sell your home quickly and at a good price.
Before we talk about the process I ask you to take a mental leap and see your house through the eyes of a potential buyer.
To a potential buyer, houses are commodities. Sad but true. Buyers have no emotional attachment of any kind to your house or any other house. So, a scrape on the wall is a warning that maybe the house may not be in good repair; maybe the plumbing or air conditioner is not well maintained and could be a major expense. And, with so many homes from which to choose, buyers look for reasons to rapidly eliminate houses from consideration. This is a key concept so I will say it again.With so many homes from which to choose, buyers look for reasons to quickly eliminate houses from consideration. Once buyers have a short-list, they take the time to really compare these few houses. We have to get your house on a buyer’s short-list or it will never be sold.
Also remember that each house gets compared to all others that they’ve seen before. Your house gets compared not only to the house for sale down the street, it is also compared to ones they saw across the city. And, if they perceive that another house is more desirable, yours will be eliminated. The sad fact of this is that the buyer’s decision to eliminate homes is largely based on their initial impression.
Ever heard the expression: "You Never Get a Second Chance to Make a First Impression"? This is true for your home too. In my experience, potential buyers form almost indelible opinions at two critical points. The first is when they stop in front of your house. The second is when they step inside the front door.
When the prospect pulls up in front of your house they instantly form an instant impression based what they see while still sitting in the car. If the yard is not well groomed, the house paint looks faded, plants are dead, weeds abound, most buyers will tell the realtor to keep driving; mine do. In a way, they are right. With so many homes from which to choose, why waste the time? So, if the front of your house doesn’t have "curb appeal" the inside of your house will never be seen. The inside of your home might be the best in Las Vegas but if no potential buyer sees the inside, your house will not sell.
Let’s assume your home has sufficient curb appeal to get the prospective buyer out of the car and to the front door. The instant the door opens, they form the second indelible impression based on what they see, smell and feel. In many cases, if they perceive that there is something "wrong," they will not look further. So, let’s talk about each of these three impressions.
Does the house look clean? I can’t stress the importance of this enough: the house has to look clean, organized and bright. No: cobwebs, rug stains, marks on the walls, no dust, no clutter. Getting a house this clean once is hard, keeping it "show time" clean every day is even harder.
At both a conscious and unconscious level, people evaluate your house’s cleanliness based on smell. So, even if your house is the cleanest house in the world, if it smells musty, the cat box was not emptied, the garbage went bad, then the house is not clean. And never think that masking an order with some sort of sent will work. When I walk into a house and I smell a strong masking sent, I think that the seller is trying to hide something and my buyer’s typically react the same way. Getting and keeping a house smelling clean can be especially difficult if you have pets or smokers in the house.
This is the most subjective element but equally important. Have you ever walked into a room and, while everything seemed ok, something "felt" wrong. Maybe you couldn’t put your finger on it but there was something "off." I find that in most cases, this "off" feeling is caused by something tangible and usually easily correctable. Some examples are an overly personalized house, a dark house, a house where large furniture makes a room seem too small. All of the things are easily correctable if you know you have a problem and are willing to correct it.
When I am working with a client, one of the things I do is to spend time going through the house and make a detailed written list of what needs to be changed. I focus on the most important areas like the front yard and the front entry area. I try to minimize your expenses by only doing what really need to be done. Sometimes it is easy things. For example, I recently sold a home that had a very dark corner. I had the client buy a low cost standing lamp at Walmart and pug it into a switched outlet so that it would come on when anyone entered the room.
Contact me if you are considering buying or selling Las Vegas real estate. You will be glad you did.
...Eric
Eric Fernwood
RE/MAX CENTRAL
8400 W. Sahara Ave
Las Vegas NV 89117
Email: EricFernwood@gmail.com
Website: www.EricFernwood.com
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Cell: 702-358-8884
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