Vikki Goodwin’s Austin Real Estate Weblog

This year’s home sales, while fewer than the past couple of years, have followed the same trend we normally see.  Sales are at the lowest point in January, picking up every month through June, and then declining for the most part through the end of the year.  Average prices follow the sales trend for the most part, too.  Average prices tend to peak in June.  So, if you are planning ahead and want to sell when prices are likely to be strongest, you have about six to eight months to get ready!

That might sound like a lot of time, but when you consider that Thanksgiving and the winter holidays fall in that timeframe, it really isn’t a lot of time to prepare.  So, planning carefully and sticking to your plan can be critical to having your home ready by March 1 when the Spring/Summer selling season begins. 

The first step should be to consult with a real estate agent and a stager to get advice about preparing your home.  These days all of us need to do a little de-cluttering before putting our homes on the market.  The real estate professional and stager can give you specific ideas about what furniture and artwork should stay in the home and where it might best be placed, and what might need to go into storage to make the home feel more spacious.  I recently met with a client whose living room furniture was just too big and overwhelming for the space he had.  He was planning to put it in storage, but my advice was to keep the beautiful furniture in the home, but to move some pieces around to different rooms.  Once you have general advice about what to keep and what to pack up, its time to start packing and de-cluttering.  I’ve known clients who spent a year just going through their belongings and determining what to keep and what to give away, through away or sell.

The next step is to make all the minor repairs that you’ve been meaning to get to for the past few years!  It’s much better to take care of them up front than to have buyers notice little things indicating the house hasn’t been as well maintained as it could be.  Buyers will equate this to a lower price.  A minor repair does not include changing counters to granite, but it might include fixing all cracks in the walls, cleaning up the cabinetry, servicing the HVAC, fixing all leaky plumbing and any electrical issues.  You might also paint inside and out and change the flooring.  New paint and flooring can have a huge impact on the sale of your home.  Finally, if you have an older house, a pre-inspection can be a huge benefit so there are no surprises once you are under contract.

The third step is to spruce up the yard.  Landscaping is important to buyers and it can make the different between a buyer coming to see your home in person or not.  Dead limbs or dead trees must be removed and fresh mulch is always a plus.  Flowers or plants with color will be especially beneficial in the front yard to add to the street appeal.  Overgrown bushes should be trimmed so the buyers can see the front of the house.

The final step, just before listing the house, is to clean it until it sparkles!  Nothing is more enticing to a buyer than a super clean home that is ready to move right in.  In my opinion, cleanliness is more important that granite countertops!

Vikki Goodwin
REALTOR®, GRI, SRS
EcoBroker®
Homes ATX
512-426-9090 cell
www.vikkigoodwin.com