I often work with people who, in the administration of the estate of a deceased loved one, find themselves in the position of having to sell the deceased person’s house. Useful to such clients, and to anyone else who is selling a house, are these tips, the Steps to Selling Your House Quickly, which tips one of my mentors, who has much experience investing in and selling homes, shared with me.
First, pay attention to the curb appeal of the house. The moment a potential buyer drives up, the house should look neat and tidy, and it should appear to the prospective buyer, before she even sets foot into the house, that the property has value. Then, once the prospective buyer enters the house, she should find the space clean and tidy and all obvious defects should be fixed. There should be clean curtains or dust-free hanging shutters on the windows.
Pay Attention to the Kitchen. The astute reader will note that I used the pronoun “she” when referring to the buyer in the paragraph above. That was a conscious word choice on my part because, as my mentor emphasized to me, one who markets a house for sale should market the property to a woman. As my mentor explained it, when a couple buys a house, it is the wife who typically has the final say as to which house is chosen. That being the case, the seller should pay attention to the kitchen when marketing the house. The kitchen should be above average, and it must have a dishwasher. In order to ascertain whether the kitchen is above average, the seller should engage a realtor who sells houses in the price range for which the house will sell. Such a realtor would be best suited to advise the seller as to how well the kitchen stacks up to other houses in the target market.
Lest you think the above paragraph has a sexist tilt, it is important that the kitchen be above average whether it is a man or a woman buyer who will make the final purchasing decision. As my mentor says, “you live in the kitchen, not in the bathroom.” That being the case, any pre-sale improvement budget should be focused on the kitchen, it being sufficient that the bathrooms be clean and serviceable. While that adage may not ring true in the ultra high end housing market where master bathrooms are the size of bedrooms in other houses, it is a good general rule of thumb for those seeking to sell residential real property.
Staging the House. The seller should set up the house to make it most attractive for potential buyers. If rooms are filled with clutter, on the one hand, or are left empty, on the other hand, it leaves the impression that the rooms are small. It is particularly important to stage size-challenged rooms. For example, the seller should place in a small dining room a dining room suite of furniture that fits the dimensions of the space. This strategic removal of clutter and placement of furniture is referred to as “staging” a house to make it more attractive for potential buyers.
The master bedroom should be staged with a bedroom suite that includes a king-sized bed, if possible. For a house with very small rooms, the seller could stage the master bedroom with a queen sized bed and a suite of furniture that does not overwhelm the space. My mentor suggests that the appearance of the master bedroom is of utmost importance and that potential home buyers are less interested in the “kid’s rooms.” Nevertheless, those lesser bedrooms likewise should be staged with furnishings that make the space appear most desireable because, as stated above, a vacant room will seem to be smaller than a room that contains the essential furnishings to make it obvious that such room, regardless of its size, is large enough for its intended purpose.
Also, when deciding how to stage the house, take care not to move furniture or pictures that have been in place for a long time lest you expose carpet or patches of the wall that are of a different color than the rest of the surrounding surfaces, which changes in color accrue over time as the space is exposed to sunlight and day to day living.
Price the House Right from Day One. As a general rule of thumb, it costs 1% of the selling price per month to own a house, so it is best to sell the house quickly and not let it sit on the market. In order to accomplish this goal, the house must be priced right on day one. Indeed, a seller can be confident that potential buyers will know the prices for which houses are selling, especially in this internet age, and such potential buyers can easily identify, and pass on by, houses that are not competitively priced.
In order to achieve the objective of pricing the house right from day one, the seller should work with a realtor who sells a lot of houses in that particular price range.
Offering Practical Client Representation. By following these steps, a home seller will greatly improve the chances of selling the real property quickly and for top dollar.
In addition to assisting clients with managing the administration of an estate when a loved one dies, William M. Gatesman is prepared to provide practical suggestions, such as those addressed above, to ensure that the estate administration is carried out smoothly and efficiently. Mr. Gatesman offers such practical perspective in all his areas of practice to provide the best service and value to his clients.