The spring market is in full swing, and we’re facing another seller’s market. With inventory remaining low and buyers feeling pressure to move before rates rise even more and homes are still flying off the shelves like the hottest toys on Black Friday.
Because of the position of power that most sellers are in, many are skipping even the most basic updates that help show a home better — cleaning, decluttering, painting, and staging. As an agent, you should still recommend simple updates that pack a punch, so that you can help your sellers sell faster and for more. We’re excited to share with you some of our low-effort, high-impact pre-listing updates that will help you achieve top dollar.
Cleaning and decluttering
Buyers want a turnkey home that they can envision living in, which is why it’s crucial to depersonalize the space and ensure a curated, blank canvas for showing. This means de-cluttering and cleaning a home before listing will help get a home sold faster and for more.
Repairs
Buyers are taking quite a few risks in today’s market. Most are waiving inspections, almost all are making compromises, and some are willing to purchase a property sight unseen. In any market, an obvious need for repairs and renovations will turn off buyers. When buyers know they’re going to be waiving an inspection, anything that signals that a home may not have been maintained to the highest standards can cause fear. Tending to deferred maintenance and making small repairs can make a world of difference when listing a property!
Hardware swaps
Swapping dated faucets, cabinet pulls, and doorknobs for modern options like brushed metals or matte black hardware can make a world of difference, especially when paired with mindful painting. In this recent renovation project, you can see that painting the cabinets and adding modern cabinet pulls helped completely transform this kitchen without any demolition work needed.
Staging
Staging a house allows you to present the home in the best light possible. An expert stager will elevate a home in everyone’s eyes, making the home look and feel how potential buyers would want it to if it were their own. A stager can highlight the most positive features of a home while downplaying some of the less-desirable elements like a small bathroom. While staging doesn’t affect the true value of a home and the appraisal, it does affect the emotional reaction that buyers will have, which can lead to higher offers.
You don’t necessarily have to stage every room to sell! We’d recommend staging main living spaces, the primary suite, and the backyard to highlight today’s buyers’ focal points.
Painting
Painting is one of the classic pre-listing updates, and it can have a significant effect on buyer perception and home sale price. Wear and tear on walls is common and may include scrapes, holes, and maybe even an errant crayon drawing from a little one. Covering up the years of love a home has experienced with a fresh coat of paint is an easy way to enable buyers to envision a property as their new home rather than someone else’s old home.
Curb appeal improvements
Good curb appeal is crucial to attract multiple, attractive offers — which, in-turn, helps you sell a home for much more money. Most curb appeal updates don’t require a lot of heavy lifting. Three simple updates that can be made on any home are adding some light, easy-maintenance landscaping, refreshing the front door, and painting siding that looks dated and worn. If you want more inspiration, check out these beautiful curb appeal before and after photos.
If you’re ready to get started on these updates for your sellers, but aren’t sure where to begin, then Curbio’s got your back with simple updates and more. We complete any work that’s needed to get a home market ready, from repairs to remodels. Curbio will manage the project for you, seeing to every detail and ensuring each of our subcontractors get the job done on time and up to quality. We’re ready to start projects immediately, with a vast network of pre-vetted subcontractors and a material supply chain backed by national partnerships.
The best part is that your sellers don’t pay for the home improvement work until they close on their home. This helps us get started faster and tone down homeowner hesitance because there’s no need for upfront cash.
Learn more about how Curbio works and check out our basic listing prep.