Prepping Your Home For Sale – David DuMont (10/29/2024)
Forgive me in advance, but this article covers topics that are of incredible importance to all Sellers and I couldn’t see cutting any of it to make it a shorter read. This is worth your time to read to the end.
Before you begin prepping your home for sale, you should consult with your real estate professional, your Listing Agent. A good Listing Agent will advise you on what to repair, replace, or leave alone. This is an extremely overlooked part of the job of being a good Listing Agent, because it’s rarely talked about by anyone. Consider your home and everything about it physically, and consider the condition it’s in. What factors help you determine if something that’s broken or isn’t 100% should be replaced or repaired, or just left as it is? This is where a good Listing Agent comes in and weighs each item based on their experience. For example, your front door handle is grinding and clearly not functioning as it should. Should you repair/replace? Absolutely! The reason is that your front door is the first physical connection the Buyer and their Agent come in contact with, and weighed against the fact that a door handle is fairly cheap, this is a must replace item. It should be flawless otherwise it starts their visit out with a bad impression. The same reasoning goes with a front door that needs to be painted. Paint it! First impressions are extremely valuable in real estate.
While the process of deciding to repair/replace items in the home seems simple, it’s quite the opposite. An experienced Listing Agent has been through the process of selling hundreds of homes, if not thousands. In each of those transactions, Seller’s homes went thru a preliminary Listing Agent “inspection” or walk-thru, photoshoots, videos, showings, inspections, TRR’s (Treatments, Repairs, and Replacements), negotiations, repairs, final Buyer walk-thrus, and finally closings. Thru all of an Agents transactions, they should be learning what is acceptable and what isn’t. What possibly kept a home on the market longer than it should have been? EVERY transaction is a learning experience to better serve the next customer.
I can’t count how many times I’ve spoken with Sellers that say they’re getting their home ready to sell. My immediate response is “If your prepping your home for sale, please have me over so we can do a walk-thru before you commit to any repairs or changes”. The Sellers have me over and show me how they’re going to remodel their kitchen because everyone has granite counters nowadays. I’m always doing research because I’m a full-time real estate Agent. I have the reports to back up my next statement to my Sellers, which is “Please don’t remodel your kitchen. You will lose a lot of money doing this because you already have a functioning kitchen, it’s just outdated. The Buyer will see it as a blank canvas allowing them to make their own selections, and your home will need to be priced accordingly.” Let me add that very very rarely there is a chance a kitchen remodel of some level may be necessary if all or most of the comps in their neighborhood have updated Kitchens. The cost must be analyzed thru quotes, taken into account in the Comparative Market Analysis I do when determining a homes value, and a decision made by the Sellers with all of the information in front of them. The fact is that a “Minor Kitchen Remodel” averages 77.2% cost recouped, a “Major Kitchen Remodel – Midrange” recoups 42.5% of the cost, and a “Major Kitchen Remodel – Upscale” recoups only 29.8% of it’s costs (Zonda cost vs value 2024 Report). The simple fact is that there are very few things you can do to your home that cost money that will get you all of that money back when you sell. Two winning repairs/replacements are front doors and garage doors. If either of those look bad, replace them but don’t get crazy.
The Listing Agent needs to know what they’re talking about when giving Sellers advice on repairs/replacements. It’s item by item decisions that walk a fine line with keeping the Buyer’s inspections in mind, and you need to lean on an experienced Agent when prepping your home for sale. The Big Question to ask as the Seller is “How much do I do?” The answer is, leave some items alone (Agent determined based on cost and impression on the Buyer pre-sale) and let them show up on the inspection report. We know the inspector is going to find the dripping faucet in the hall bath and when we say we’ll fix/replace it, the Buyer gets something they asked for. We know the outlets in the kitchen aren’t GFCI’s, the inspector will note that, and we’ll replace them for the Buyer, once again doing something for them and continuing to improve the relationship as the transaction ages towards closing. The fact is that if you fix everything in a home before selling it, the inspector will need to look deeper to find something to recommend. It’s literally their mission to find something wrong so they’ve served their customer, the Buyer. If they can’t find anything, I feel like it gives them the impression that something serious must be wrong and it’s being hidden! I’ve worked with Sellers that had near perfect homes, and when the inspector didn’t find anything, he climbed into the attic and started looking under insulation. He removed plug covers and looked into the walls. He was more determined than ever to find faults with the home and it clearly bothered him that he wasn’t finding anything! Let me be clear, Sellers shouldn’t hide problems with their home because Disclosures will need to be filled out and signed, making them legally responsible. If a Seller’s Agent is aware of a problem with the home and the Seller refuses to disclose it, there is a form we as Agents must fill out disclosing the problem ourselves, or we end up being complicit in hiding a material defect. My point is that it’s only logical to leave some “imperfections” that you would otherwise have fixed if I didn’t tell you not to. If the Buyer asks for them to be taken care of in order to move forward, clearly you will say yes because you were going to do the repairs anyways. It’s a win-win scenario that your experienced Listing Agent helps you craft up front.
Once the inspection(s) is done, the Buyer(s) will get a detailed report that lists everything the inspector(s) found. Inspection reports cover all of the systems of a home, including but not limited to:
- Exterior (exterior of the home, the land, any/all concrete, proximity of trees/plants to home, and more)
- Plumbing
- Electrical
- Heating/cooling system
- Interior
- Fireplace
- Structure
- Roof
- Insulation and ventilation
- Appliances
The Buyer’s Agent should meet with their Buyer(s), review the entire report, and form a plan on how to respond to the Seller(s) about the findings of the inspector. I’ve had many transactions where nothing was asked for. I’ve also had many transactions where the Buyer’s Agent thinks that the inspection report is a list of everything that the Seller needs to do to sell the home! 99% of the time this is the type of TRR you receive because the Buyer’s Agent is inexperienced. Taking every fault in the home and asking for them to be repaired/replaced is usually ridiculous, and is only likely to stall or blow up the transaction. Again, this is where the Listing Agent’s experience is invaluable. Your Agent must be able to advise you on what repairs are necessary to move the transaction forward. Generally, anything wrong with a “system” in the home should be repaired/replaced. For example, any leaks, anything involving heating/cooling, or the electrical system in the home, these things should be made right. These things should be in working order or the home should have been listed as being sold “As is – no repairs to be done by Seller”, and priced accordingly. It’s “reasonable” for a Buyer to ask for the dripping faucet in the Primary bath to be fixed. It’s reasonable to expect the garage door to go up and down. It’s not reasonable to expect a Seller to repaint the entire interior because of holes in the walls from pictures and decorations. It’s not reasonable to ask that the driveway be replaced because it has a crack in it. However, reasonable or not, the TRR is a list that must be negotiated and resolved in order to move on to the closing. If a Buyer asks something that’s deemed unreasonable by the Seller, it comes down to the cost of the repair/replacement, and how important it is to the Seller that the contract move to close, or do they have the time to let the deal die and put the home back in Active status to find another Buyer? The first negotiation in a real estate sale is the up-front contract. The second negotiation is the TRR! The third and generally the last negotiation is the appraisal value, but that’s a topic for another Blog.
Summary: Working with me, we will walk your home together and talk about all of the things you know need to be repaired or replaced. You won’t be doing all of this alone. There is a lot to be gained by having me involved in prepping your home for sale. Based on my experience, I’ll recommend which items you should address pre-listing, and which you should leave for the TRR phase. When the TRR is received, I will be there to help you choose how to react to any requested repairs/replacements, and how to negotiate thru the report if possible. As a very experienced Listing Agent, I always aim to price my Seller’s homes at the sweet spot of as high as possible without going too high. The price must always be tempered by how important it is for the home to sell fast, or do the Sellers have time to get the most money for the home possible, even if it takes longer. If the sales price is “topped out”, it means there should be money built in for repairs in order to get the deal done. Sellers need to take any possible profit in the sale into account when deciding what they are willing to do to get the home sold. I hope what I’ve written here for your review leaves you with the understanding that I am the experienced Agent you want to do business with, and the Agent that will get you thru the process with the most money in your pocket! I could keep writing this article for thousands of more words, but I can’t possibly give you all of my experience in writing. You need my brains and eyes to work for you! Call me today and let’s start discussing your wants and needs. David DuMont, Realtor, (918)409-5195, [email protected], or I will reach out to you as soon as possible if you submit your information by clicking here: Please call me ASAP!
Some tips to follow when prepping your home for sale:
- Keep an open mind from the start, and remind yourself that prepping your home for sale isn’t just about what’s broken or missing, it’s about how to present your home in the best light possible to strangers.
- Make your entry outside the front door as nice as possible. Consider adding some plants in planters, or even simple hanging baskets with low maintenance flowers during the appropriate months goes a long way.
- Make your entry inside the front door as nice as possible! Remember first impressions go a long way.
- Stage each living area to help potential buyers imagine living in that space. The more you remove from the walls, the larger the space will feel to others.
- Keep all rooms clean, including children’s rooms. This is a great time to teach children how to make their own beds!
- Pay attention to odors. Are there any smells other than clean living spaces? Old carpet smell? Old paint smell? If it’s an older home and it smells like dust, you may need to get your HVAC ducts cleaned. If you choose to use some sort of deoderizer, don’t overdue it! Too much of any smell is too much.
- Remove clutter and extra furniture to help the space feel clean and larger. The most important visual space is the Kitchen. As much as it pains many people, the countertops should be as close to completely empty as possible. Even the everyday appliances should be moved to the pantry, closet, or cabinetry.
- Powerwash the exterior so all home surfaces look their best (research on-line to make sure you don’t damage any of the exterior materials: stone, stucco, metal, etc…). If you can’t powerwash the entire exterior, do your best to spot clean, but make sure ALL windows are as spotless as possible until the home sells!
- Clean out the garage space as much as possible. This is probably the lowest priority on the cleaning list but if you can make it happen, do it. If it’s in the garage, try to make sure it’s in a box or a tub.
- Make sure to remove any hazards in and around the home. A cracked and buckled sidewalk is a tripping hazard. Bare wires, empty light sockets, anything of this sort should be eliminated.
- Last but definitely not least on the list of things to do when prepping your home for sale, there are three things that should be removed from any home before it’s shown to the public: 1.) There should be no weapons of any kind in the home (this opens you up to an incredible amount of liability). 2.) All prescription medication/controlled substances must be removed from the home and property (yes, this means that if you’re growing your medicinal plants in the back yard, they should be removed). 3.) Any valuables, collectables, antiques, important breakables, should be removed for your peace of mind and financial interests. Keep in mind that people very often bring children with them to view homes, and some children like to pick up things that they shouldn’t pick up. The parent(s) is extremely distracted looking at a home that they might end up buying, and things happen! China cabinets full of china should be removed if at all possible. Also, consider putting these things out of reach: Musical instruments, trophies, computer equipment, exotic pets, artwork. I’m sure you get the idea. If you don’t want it broken, remove it from the home.
I hope I haven’t freaked you out with so much to think about, but remember that it’s my job to help you get through this! Call me right now and put me to work:
David DuMont, Realtor, (918)409-5195, [email protected], or I will reach out to you as soon as possible if you submit your information by clicking here: Please call me ASAP!