Don't Sell Until You're Ready
Preparation is everything. If you want to sell your home and you want top dollar, you have to do some work first.
I have a story to tell you.
What you see below are pictures of a very sweet old farmhouse in Davenport that went on the market in very early spring. It was listed with another agent for a year and it didn't sell. It didn't show much, either.
When I met the owner and toured the house, I saw a ton of potential, but it was buried under stuff. One main room, the one pictured on the right below, was full of furniture but clearly was used for storage. The downstairs bath had no door, just a curtain.
I went through, room by room, and suggested rearranging furniture, removing excess items. He promised he'd do it.
This seller was as good as his word. He rearranged even that extra room to look open, bright and livable. He hung a bathroom door. He spruced up the outside and the pictures we got looked warm and inviting. It's not fancy, certainly, but it looks about as good as it can look in its current reality. It's charming.
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We got a lot of showings, fast. We got an offer, too. It's still in negotiation, so we shall see if we get to closing. But I'm not worried. This is a sweet place, a perfect little Catskills homestead with outbuildings and lots of land. It shows well. It'll sell.
I didn't train as an interior designer, but I've shown and sold enough houses to know what looks good and what photographs well. It's an added value an experienced Realtor brings to a seller...a lot of us have picked up that skill.
But some places need even a bit more of an expert eye. This place, for example.
It's a stunner, no doubt about it. It sets on a hillside, looking a bit like a luxury liner. Designed by a prominent architect for an equally prominent writer, the interior was intended to be reminiscent of a Swedish farmhouse. A really big Swedish farmhouse.
That meant long, long expanses of natural wood wainscotting. A palette of browns and tans.
It was on the market for years. When I got the listing, I knew we needed color. But this one needed my expert - Kate Burnell Interiors and Design. Kate came in and proposed a soft palette of blues and greens in a couple of rooms that softened everything, made it more welcoming and warm.
She also swapped out some blah overhead lighting for something updated and interesting.
It sold.
If you want to sell your home, look at it critically. Look for the flaws. Look for the assets. And ask yourself how to minimize the first and maximize the second. Shortcuts here are shortchanging only you. Call in an expert if you just aren't sure. But do it.
Remember that buyers walk in a property hoping to fall in love. But they're not easy. You've got to win them over. Wow them and you've got a sale.
Do the work. Make your home irresistible.
Want to see what's for sale in the western Catskills and beyond? Come visit my website at upstatecountryrealty.com. Sign up for our monthly newsletter and don't miss a thing!