Stacy Sheeley is a Luxury Real Estate Agent at Realty One Group in Summerlin, Nevada. She knows just how to turn a good home into a great listing in a short period of time. Here are some of her tips.
1. Start with TLC
Stacy’s first and best piece of advice for anyone planning to sell within 6 months is to make it the best six months. Take care of your home. Deep clean your home. Declutter your home. Go through the closet that you haven’t opened in a few years and get rid of things you don’t need. Minimize your things and ask yourself if it is something you’re using and truly love to keep.
Stacy believes that cleaning and decluttering can be a cathartic experience that offsets the stress of selling and leaving your home. There’s a value-add, as well.
By finding new organization systems for your items, you will create a phenomenal showing experience for a future buyer when we are putting the home up for sale. A lot of buyers are looking for smart storage and amazing organization. If you can show or create new organization systems in your home this year, it could be a great selling point for a future buyer. Stacy has lots of helpful tips to DIY but if that’s too much work for you, she recommends a professional organizer.
Make all the small repairs that you’ve been putting off both cosmetically and functionally. Paint the baseboards that have scuff marks, check under your sinks for plumbing leaks, make sure all your windows open easily and that the locks are functioning. If you’ve been living in your home for longer than 10 years, Stacy recommends having a home inspection prior to listing your home. You will get a head start and be able to make repairs so that your home will appear to be very well maintained.
Finally, nothing turns buyers off more than a dirty house. Make sure to have it professionally cleaned from top to bottom. Also have the windows professionally cleaned – inside and out. Power wash your garage floor and organize. Buy a few shelving units to neatly place the things that you need. Garage storage organizers are one of the features that Buyers look for.
2. Paint the Interior of Your Home
Any designer will tell you that a fresh coat of paint is one of the cheapest, fastest, and most dramatic ways to improve your home’s appearance and appeal. Homes that have been freshly painted not just sell quicker, but they also sell for a higher price. Choose light and bright colors to make the home feel larger and like a clean slate for the new buyer. A soft white is a good choice as well as a light neutral such as Sherwin Williams Agreeable Grey, Kilim Beige, or Botany Beige.
It’s a DIY-able project for most, but if you’re not confident in your ability to pull it off without looking sloppy, the average in Las Vegas is about $3.00/sq ft – including walls, doors, and baseboards.
3. Update Hardware, Fixtures and Lighting
Nothing gives a home an updated look easier than new sink faucets, door handles, cabinetry pulls and lighting. If you have the old gold door handles, switch out to brushed nickel or matte black (depending on your home’s style). Even the front door handle gives a great first impression. If you haven’t changed out your faucet since the early 2000’s and they are worn, then switch them out. Chrome is back in style, so you have luck there if they are still bright and shiny. The old, recessed lighting with the warm glow bulbs is outdated. Update with the new LED lights that easily pop in. You can find most of these items inexpensively online. Walmart outsources to other companies and has great prices on door handles and cabinetry pulls. LED lighting is inexpensive on Amazon.
4. Curb Appeal & Landscaping
The importance of adding value to your home starts at the front yard and ends in the back. Fresh paint on the walls and front door go a long way. If your homeowner’s association will allow it, add a pop of color to the front door. New “coach” lights; something more modern and new address numbers will help to give a facelift. I probably don’t need to tell you that original builder plants do not add a lot of appeal and usually are not planted in a balanced or tiered manner. Add in a few large pots with flowers – a bunch of small ones tend to look tacky.
One of the biggest things that Buyers are now looking for is indoor/outdoor living spaces so having seamless access to the back patio adds a ton of value. If you’ve been thinking about adding a retractable glass sliding door – don’t hesitate. The money you put into it will be recaptured. Adding tile or pavers over the slab concrete will add to the charm. Style with an outdoor living and dining area for maximum appeal.
5. Concentrate on the Most Important Rooms
Each buyer is looking for something different. Stacy has worked with buyers who cared most about features as varied as a pool, an outdoor space for their dogs, butler’s pantries and efficient storage systems, and home office space.
If you have these spaces, great. Make sure you focus on them. If you are inclined to do some renovating, the most important spaces would be to update your kitchen and bathrooms. As a rule of thumb, most buyers fall in love with the kitchen even if the pool is the number one “must-have.” After that, they fall in love with the floorplan and functionality of the spaces.
Make sure to maximize the feeling of openness and each space needs to have a purpose. One way to create space is to not only have overhead lighting but also low lighting, as in table lamps. Make sure they are sophisticated and on trend. Even Target carries inexpensive, nice looking table lamps. As far as each room having a purpose, don’t have a multipurpose room with a Stair Master, desk and TV. If you don’t have a dedicated office space then create one with a desk, comfortable chair and reading lamp. If it’s a home gym that you need the most, then make it the sole purpose – put in a yoga mat, mirror on the wall and an exercise ball. Mount the TV and play up the home gym. If it’s a playroom, then put in some storage units or shelves, a child’s table, fun rug and big pillows on the floor. The pandemic created a need for all three of these types of spaces.
All of these suggestions are affordable and can make a huge difference in terms of how someone will perceive your home and in turn, increase the value. Make an appointment with us to get you started with a plan to sell your home.
