Your Home vs. The Market! With Real Estate Broker, Allison Jaffe – Part II (Tangible Tips)
Last time, we learned about the advantages of exclusive agency as well as some general tips for bringing a home to market, but what about YOUR home? What are some tangible examples of things you can do to gain a competitive edge and what if you’re a special circumstance?
Allison Jaffe, Founder/Broker of Key Real Estate Services, provides you some keys to success. Using the example of multiple apartments in the same complex… some may have the same floor plan, some might have different views, the square footage may be the same, but the fixtures, cleanliness, furniture arrangement, and paint are things you have control over. In today’s market where there is an abundance of great listings, you need to focus on the things you have control over and sometimes need to spend some money to make money.
Allison explains that in the past, prospective buyers would sometimes opt for a listing that may have needed some work but offered a great price. Today, that’s not the case. Buyers are looking for move-in-ready listings because great prices can be found anywhere. Doing a lot of estate work, Allison sees properties that are not in the best shape. Where someone has aged in place, the property may appear worn, dated, or worse. In these instances she functions as a specialist, investigating her client’s needs versus market demands and detecting a happy medium that will allow the home to be sold.
Working with sellers, Allison offers the rule “Make everything new that you can, as inexpensively as you can.” With that in mind, Allison tells us that painting and redoing floors are the best things you can do to get the biggest bang for your buck. Decluttering and junk removal also go along way. Things to watch out for and address? Peeling paint, stained carpets, damaged/dated fixtures and overall cleanliness.
It all comes down to the details and where you have the ability to control price, control condition and control timing, you need to strike the perfect balance in renovating, prepping, and eventually showing your property. In terms of showing, you want to be as convenient to prospective buyers in terms of availability for viewings as possible.
Perhaps the most important thing of all is to keep in mind that most fixes are about not distracting the buyer – the balance between an aesthetically pleasing fix that allows the prospective buyer to visualize the home as their own as opposed to admiring or despising your aesthetic tastes . To that end, Allison recommends that sellers are not present at the same time as buyers as it is usually uncomfortable for the buyer to experience your home with you present.
No matter what, the thing to remember is that your home should be “MOVE IN READY.” Last, but not least – buyers should be as specific as possible when working with a real estate agent to help guarantee their own satisfaction!
Allison Jaffe
Key Real Estate Services, LLC
718-874-2877
914-661-0340
Fax: 1-800-LUG-JUNK
[email protected]
www.keyrealestateny.com