Selling your home in Charlotte NC? 5 Things you MUST do to Maximize Your Value

Selling your home in Charlotte NC? 5 Things you MUST do to Maximize Your Value

by | Nov 22, 2022 | Selling My House, Uncategorized

There are a variety of things that are out of your control when selling your home in Charlotte NC , including market conditions, location, price bracket etc…But there are a few things that are well within your control! These 5 tips can help put thousands of dollars back into your pocket!

In this post I want to explore the reasons around why its really worth spending time on your home before you leave it, both for you and for your potential buyers!

Of course, you want to maximize your profit when selling your Charlotte NC home. There are many things you can do to ensure that you get the most money possible for your home. In this article, you will learn about the top 5 things to focus on to ensure you can maximize your profit when selling your home here in Charlotte NC

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1. Curb Appeal

Curb appeal isn’t just about making your house more attractive; it’s about making it memorable and demanding positive attention. A home with high curb appeal can demand higher prices and take less time to sell. The outside is also what brings potential buyers inside.

The reality is that many homebuyers begin the buying process online and, of those, over half will drive by a home they saw online. That means that over half of your prospective home purchasers could make a decision on your house by what they can see from the street. Every part of your home’s exterior from the front entryway to the yard, driveway, sidewalk, walls, and windows can make an impression.

You probably won’t be able to update or polish every aspect of your home’s exterior, so what should you prioritize?

            •  Cut back tree’s and shrubs: Trees and shrubs should accent and enhance your house, not hide it. With a good eye, the right tools and a little time, basic shrub and tree trimming and pruning can yield impressive “curb appeal” results.
            •  Manicure your lawn: Keep your lawn freshly mowed, trimmed and edged. Give it special attention before weekend showings. If you don’t have the time or the inclination to do it yourself, consider hiring a reliable, professional yard service to keep your lawn show ready.
            •  Plant some color: Flowering plants are a quick, inexpensive and effective way to make your home look bright, fresh and inviting. Get advice as to which plants do best given the time of year and the amount of daily sunlight they will receive.
            •  Paint the house:Painting an entire house can be expensive, but may be justified if the current paint is in bad shape or the colors are simply dated. From a curb appeal standpoint, painting only the trim can give your home a fresh, clean, updated appearance for considerably less than the cost of painting the entire home. Color choice is key (whether painting the entire house or just the trim); a professional color consultant can help you select the color scheme that will likely appeal to the most buyers.
            • Clean the roof and gutters:Buyers notice roofs, and it goes beyond curb appeal. The roof is a major home maintenance and expense item. Tree branches on the roof, clogged, sagging, gutters and algae growth detract from the home’s appearance and give the impression of the roof (and the home itself) being neglected. Clean debris from the roof and gutters, have any moss or algae growth removed and reattach any loose gutters.
            • Freshen walkways and driveways: Pressure wash brick and concrete walkways, patios and drives. Put a fresh coat of sealant on black top driveways. 
            • Freshen walkways and driveways: Pressure wash brick and concrete walkways, patios and drives. Put a fresh coat of sealant on black top driveways. 
            • Address your mailbox: Your mailbox is one of the first things a buyer may notice. If the box is on a wood post, freshen the stain or paint the post a neutral color. If the mailbox itself has seen better days, replacing it is fairly easily and inexpensive.
            • Address your mailbox: Your mailbox is one of the first things a buyer may notice. If the box is on a wood post, freshen the stain or paint the post a neutral color. If the mailbox itself has seen better days, replacing it is fairly easily and inexpensive.
            • Your Front Door:Your front door is the first thing that buyers will see before walking into your home. You want to start with a good first impression. You want to make sure the front door’s paint isn’t peeling, or weathered. Major dings or dents are a no-no. Hardware like door handles should be in good condition, and weatherstripping should be intact, and most homeowners can fix those issues themselves.

2. Declutter & Staging Your Home

Before you can successfully show off your house to anyone (or even take listing photos) you need to ensure you have a home that people will want to live in: one that’s well organized and filled with ample storage space. To help, we’ve put together a list the most important places to de-clutter as you prepare to sell your home. And though we can’t promise it’ll shorten the length of time your home spends on the market, we can assure you it’ll make the staging process go a whole lot smoother.

There’s a common belief that rooms will feel larger if all the furniture is pushed against the walls, but that isn’t the case. Instead, furnish your space by floating furniture away from walls. Reposition sofas and chairs into cozy conversational groups, and place pieces so that the traffic flow in a room is obvious. Not only will this make the space more user-friendly, but it will open up the room and make it seem larger.

 

3. Have a Clean & Tidy Home

Most people expect you to clean the home before closing the deal. But also, a lovely and clean home can leave a favorable impression on every potential buyer. Remember that they will be poking around and looking through every inch of your home, searching for every detail.

While you could sell a house in poor condition and messy, it might be a bad financial decision. Unless you are selling your home “as is,” keeping it in top shape is important to raise the asking price.

4. Small Touch Up’s and Repairs

It is easy to miss a lot of the wear and tear that happens to your house over the years. But when you start thinking about selling, the state of your home becomes much clearer. You know that there are things that need to be fixed and cleaned up. However, you only have so much money and time to make repairs. So, what should you fix?

           1. Paint: Paint is one of the cheapest, easiest ways to update the look of your home before you list it. And you don’t need to be a professional painter to make this work for you, either. Watch a few videos online, pick your colors and go to town!

          2. Exterior: The exterior is the first thing buyers will see, so you want it to look good. Replace missing fence boards, add sod if the yard is looking the worse for wear, and clean up any junk that may have accumulated in the yard or on the outside of any storage sheds.

         3. Lighting: Lighting can make even the smallest home seem open and inviting. You want to maximize the perception of space, so you will want to take advantage of the many lighting options now available. You can learn more about lighting different spaces online and find a variety of affordable lighting options that will be far superior to the current overhead or stand lights in your house.

         4. Functionality: Go to your home and make sure everything works as it should – from the small things like doorknobs and locks to bigger stuff like your garage door.Everything doesn’t have to be new for a home to be desirable to buyers, but all the functional aspects of the home must be in good working order to fetch the best price. A few broken components are all it takes to start driving the price down, so get them fixed.

        5. Flooring: Bad flooring can quickly turn away home buyers because it’ll be one of the first things they notice when entering your house. Costs to replace flooring mainly depend on the material that you choose.

       6. Water Stains: You’ve learned to live with the results of a long-fixed plumbing snafu, but for buyers, a water stain suggests there could be a dozen pesky problems hidden beneath the surface. That’s why this is one of the things to do before putting your house on the market.

 

5. Depersonalize The Home

As hard as it sounds, you need to depersonalize the house to sell it. Try to see it through a stranger’s eyes and think zero clutter, warm wall palettes, soft textures, and small bursts of color—you’re aiming for neutral, but still charming!

Depersonalizing your home is overwhelming, we know. So, what are a few things to focus on when depersonalizing your home? 

            • Remove personal photos and family portraits
            • Start taking down those prized trophies, awards and framed certificate
            • Pack up your ‘collections’
            • Put away toys and sporting or exercise equipment. They are also considered personal items
            • De-personalize your bathrooms
            • Remove magnets from your fridge 

When you live in a home, especially for a long time, it’s easy to overlook the things that can make or break an offer. Selling your home is about taking an objective look from a buyer’s point of view. Remove yourself and your memories from the equation, and imagine that you are seeing your home for the first time.

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5 Best-Kept Strategies To Make The Most Money When Selling Your Home

5 Best-Kept Strategies To Make The Most Money When Selling Your Home

by | Nov 16, 2022 | Selling My House

Savvy home buyers and sellers often have the same goal: to get the best price possible for and out of their biggest investment. For many sellers specifically, it means selling their home for top dollar and within their predetermined time frame. 

To achieve this, it’s necessary to implement the right strategies to make your listing stand out and stay ahead of the competition while spending as little extra time and money as possible. Here are five best-kept tricks of the trade to ensure you get the most out of your home sale:

1. Work with a local real estate agent.

The main thing to remember when listing your home for sale is that your time is money. So even if you’ve done it before (unless you’re an investor), you will likely benefit from the talent, expertise, and guidance you can get from a local real estate agent. They can steer you in the right direction to help you get the most money possible. And with the unpredictability of the current housing market, it’s even more critical to work with an expert so you can stay on top of things.
With a realtor by your side, it will be much easier to navigate the ins and outs of the selling process. They also have the know-how when it comes to staging, marketing, reviewing offers, handling negotiations, explaining the complicated terms in legal documents, and more. Before deciding to sell your home, make sure you connect with a local and experienced real estate agent.

2. Time your sale.

Timing is critical when selling your home to maximize your sale price. Generally speaking, spring is widely considered to be the best time to sell since many people want to move during the warmer months when the kids are out of school. However, seasonal trends vary by market so it’s important to do your research. You’d want to make sure that the conditions of the market where you’re selling (and subsequently buying) are working in your favor.

Likewise, there are other factors to consider as well to maximize your profit. For example, is the sale of your home going to conflict with other life events like relocating to a new job, retirement, or other family milestones? If that is the case, even if it’s already the peak selling season, you might want to consider before listing especially if there will be a negative financial impact. Other factors to consider are whether you have built enough equity in your home to offset buying, closing, and moving costs, as well as the current condition of your home, from which you can decide how much time and effort it will take to prepare it for sale.

3. Price your home right.

Think you can make more money on the sale by placing a higher price tag on your home? Here’s the thing: an overpriced listing deters many prospective buyers. And because of that, your home is more likely to sit on the market longer or be compelled to drop the price later, which could raise questions or skepticism about whether there’s something wrong with the property. On the other hand, price your home too low and you risk leaving money on the table.

This is why it’s crucial to set a fair but competitive price right from the start. And this can only be achieved by enlisting the help of a real estate professional. Your agent will perform a complete comparative market analysis (CMA), which will show you what similar properties in the area have sold for recently and for how much. This will give you an understanding of the price that’s appropriate for your neighborhood while also considering the current condition and value of your home. Setting a realistic initial asking price will attract more buyers that will help you sell quickly, maximizing your return.

4. Spruce up your home.

Many prospective buyers appreciate a clean and well-maintained home. Even with a limited budget, doing a thorough cleaning, as well as completing some minor repairs and upgrades before listing your house, can go a long way to helping it sell for more.
Don’t forget to do a deep clean on both your property’s interior and exterior to give it that much-needed refresh. A fresh coat of paint, preferably on neutral colors, can also give it an instant facelift. Fix minor issues like leaky faucets and cracked windows, or replace any loose hardware like cabinet pulls and doorknobs. Improve your home’s curb appeal by trimming the hedges and trees, pressure-washing the driveway, cleaning and repainting the mailbox, etc. Doing even just some of these budget-friendly projects depending on what your home needs can help make a good first impression when it’s time to list it for sale.

5. Negotiate the best offer.

If you’re on your own, you might be tempted to immediately grab the offer with the highest price thinking that it was already a good deal. But with an experienced real estate agent on your side, you’ll be guided on the ins and outs of the offer process and be advised on when to negotiate prices and terms. While the highest offer price seems good enough, it doesn’t mean it’s the best offer, especially if you’ve got multiple bidders on your property.

There are other things to evaluate in an offer aside from the asking price to make sure you get the best deal, such as contingencies—clauses or set of terms in the contract that allow the buyer to cancel the agreement if those terms aren’t met, target closing schedule, seller concessions, financing, etc. With the help of your agent, you can negotiate to limit the contingencies to what you feel comfortable with or choose only from offers that match your target closing date. Just remember to review those things carefully and understand that the most important figure is your net proceeds, which tells you how much you’ll walk away with from your home sale after paying your expenses.