PREPARING YOUR HOME TO SELL…FAST!

A guide to getting top dollar in today’s real estate market

by Keith Radke

When selling a home, the goal is create a great showing

experience for a wide array of buyers. That means that your

home should be extremely clean, organized and feel like a

“blank slate”.

Have you ever walked into a builder’s model home and

thought…Wow, this place is amazing? There is something

about a well-organized and staged home that creates an

emotional response within us. Builders are experts at creating

emotional responses in order to sell their expensive product.

That is why they will spend tens of thousands of dollars on

designers, furniture, artwork and staging. When you get

buyers to have an emotional response to your home, you get

offers. Sometimes, you get multiple offers. Multiple offers

means a higher price and a faster sale. That’s it….that’s the

game. This is what we are trying to accomplish. Everything I

do, from staging, to photos, to marketing is designed to bring

multiple offers.

Many times, homeowners wonder what home

improvements they should make in order to create this

experience. I get asked this question all the time. It’s a wise

question to ask, because as a Realtor and Certified Appraiser, I

have seen homeowners waste thousands of dollars trying to

improve their homes.

The most tragic example I have ever seen of this was

when a homeowner on the North side of Chicago tore down

their 2 car garage for a $50,000 in ground pool. That

“improvement” cost the owner over $100,000 because parking

space is coveted in Chicago and you can only use a pool for 3

or 4 months out of the year.

While this is an extreme example, there are countless

other scenarios that I have seen over my 20 years in this

business. I compiled a list of improvements that all

homeowners can safely consider without fear of wasting their

money. I am not saying you need to do all of these

improvements. Your home may be in perfect condition and

not need anything. If that’s you, congratulations! However, if

your home needs a little love, consider these tips and

please…consult with a professional agent who is familiar with

staging and marketing. I have used these tips on my personal

homes. Each time, I sold these homes within the first 7 days

and close to full asking price. On two of the homes, I achieved

the highest sale price in the subdivision within the last year.

Paint

Paint as much as you can. If it has been more than 2 years

since you last painted, then you should consider painting your entire

home. Paint is always at the top of the list of remodeling that gets

the most dollar for dollar return on investment. If your paint scheme

is very unique to you, also consider painting. Painting can be done by

a professional, a handyman or yourself. Consider painting in a

neutral color.

Today, grey tones are very “in style” and go well with many

different decors. I regularly recommend “repose grey” Super Paint

by Sherwin Williams. If your trim is looking dated, I would

recommend painting the trim a semi-gloss Dove White. It really

complements the grey walls perfectly. Unless your ceilings are very

stained or faded, do not worry about painting them. Just doing the

walls and trim will suffice.

Refinish your wood floors

If you have very faded, scratched or “yellow” color floors now is the

time to refinish them. I recommend finishing the floors in Minwax

Dark Walnut. It goes very well with the grey and white color scheme

I suggested earlier.

I would then do a couple of coats of polyurethane in a matte finish.

You do not want to have very shiny floors. I recommend that you

hire a professional to do this, as it takes skill and special equipment.

Cost of refinishing typically costs $2.00 to $2.50 per square foot.

Refinishing floors can give your home a modern, new look as seen

below:

Before

After

Paint your Kitchen Cabinets:

Painting cabinets can produce a very dramatic result for very little

cost. Many cabinet paints have come on the market as painting

cabinets has become very trendy. If you have golden oak cabinets, I

would recommend painting them. One thing to realize is that if you

have oak cabinets and paint over them, the grain will show through.

Some people like the look of the grain, but it may bother some

buyers. In order to produce a completely smooth finish, you will

need to purchase a wood grain filler such as Sher-Wood Wood Grain

Filler:

The best option is to paint your cabinets Dove White, but you may

also opt for more trendy colors such as Dark Grey or Sherwin

Williams Amazing Grey. You can also choose to mix up colors. A

Dove White cabinet and Grey Island go extremely well together and

are highly desired by today’s buyers.

Try to pick a color that matches your current counter tops if you do

not plan on replacing them. Replacing counter tops can be expensive

and you will not necessarily get the return on investment. Obviously,

if your counters are damaged, it would be wise to replace them. I

recommend using a granite that goes well with your paint choice. An

excellent choice would be to get a granite that mimics marble. This

goes extremely well with a white and grey paint scheme. Below is

Bianco Romano Granite:

Replace or paint fixtures

An easy and inexpensive way to update your home is to replace

outdated fixtures. In fact, you don’t even need to replace them. If

your fixtures are dated, an easy way to update them is to spray paint

them. I like to spray my fixtures black to go along with the gray and

white color scheme. This spray paint will stick to anything and wears

very well. Use it on light fixtures or door knobs.

If you prefer to replace your light fixtures. You can find many good

options at home depot or Menards. A simple flush mount light

fixture in hallways and bedrooms will suffice. For kitchens and dining

rooms, I would spend a little more money and use this area to show a

little chrome.

Here are some good options:

Here is a nice chrome dining room option:

And here is an option for over a kitchen island:

The best part of fixtures like these are that they are open and airy.

They give you a nice modern look without being obtrusive. You can

easily spend over a thousand dollars on fixtures like these. However,

I have found similar fixtures for under $200.

Clean up the landscaping

When it comes to the outside of your home, I would not recommend

spending lots of money adding landscaping or expensive patios/walkways.

The objective here is to make it neat and appealing. Spend a weekend

trimming anything that is overgrown. Nice and neat is the key. If you

haven’t added mulch in a while, definitely add some DARK BROWN, not

RED, mulch. Make sure all of your landscape edges are neat and sharp.

Pull all of the weeds. Keep the lawn mowed and if you have any bare spots

or obvious signs of disease, now is the time to fix it. Call and landscaper

and pay them to do it if needed. They work very cheaply and can get

everything done in a day or two.

Staging

I cannot over emphasize the importance of staging a home well. As I said

before, we are trying to create an emotional response from the buyer. It is

just not possible to do this when there are piles of laundry laying around,

knick knacks everywhere, or beat up furniture in every room. I use a

professional home staging service who will design a staging concept, bring

in furniture, artwork, etc. and take professional photos for around $2,500

for a 3 month term. Many homeowners balk at this idea and do not see the

value in this. But take a look at these statistics:

In summary, you must consider the intial cost of the staging against the

potential increase in sales price along with the savings that comes with

paying less in carrying costs (Mortgage, Taxes, Insurance, Utilities) . More

often than not, professional staging pays off. Here are some before and

after pictures:

Not Staged

Staged

Photos

Professional photos are an absolute must in today’s market. Over 94% of

potential home buyers begin their search for homes online. That means

you need to hook buyers with photos. If you see your agent start taking

photos on their smart phone, it is time to fire that agent. Nothing makes

me more crazy than seeing unprofessional photos on the Multiple Listing

Service. Sure, the homes may sell, but how many buyers did that agent fail

to bring in because he or she didn’t want to spend a couple hundred dollars

on a professional photographer. I call these agents order takers…and they

are more common than you think. They may also be the biggest name

agent in your area. You have been warned!

When buyers start their search online, if they like the first picture, they will

click on your listing. If you give them just enough good quality photos, they

will be most likely to reach out and schdule a tour or attend the open

house. If the pictures are bad, they will quickly move on to the next house.

You just lost a potential buyer. I like to give buyers just enough photos to

entice them. There is no need to place 50 photos on the MLS, unless your

home is 10,000 square feet or more. I just want enough to get them in to

see the home. This is more of an art form than science. To illustrate how

important this is, here are a couple of examples of pictures I took with a

smart phone compared with a professional photographer.

Picture from my Samsung Note 5

Professional Photographer

Picture from my Samsung Note 5

Professional Photographer

Here are some random photos taken from the internet on real

estate listings. Homeowners are paying thousands upon thousands

of dollars in commissions and their agents are not willing to pay a

couple hundred dollars to get professional photos. Do any of thee

photos make you want to buy that house?

Even if these listings do sell, how many more buyers would

have seen the home had the home been properly prepared? And

how much money did that cost the seller?

Taken with smart phone.

Way too dark, TV on, cannot see anything in this room

The classic finger in the photo shot

Always guaranteed to bring buyers

The classic agent in the mirror photo (using a smart phone)

Shot with a smart phone (WAY too dark)

Shot with a smart phone (Held vertically so doesn’t fill up the picture

space)

This is an actual photo intentionally taken to sell this home

Can anyone tell me what this is showcasing?

Taken with smart phone

Too dark, bad exposure, driveway not cleared

Taken with smart phone

Bad exposure, cluttered mess, no thought to staging

What does this highlight? The outdated table, the china? Or bad

window treatments?

You get the idea. Great photography is the key to selling real estate.

This is non-negotiable.

I hope this guide gave you some ideas on making some changes to

your home that brings maximum value, for the least amount of

money. I am confident that if you make these easy upgrades you will

get more money for your home. One of the most important things to

do is to hire an agent that understands the local market and can

guide you through the process of maximizing your home’s value. If

you are in the Chicagoland area, I am always available to consult with

you on your own personal marketing and remodel strategy. You can

contact me at:

(708) 935-4708-Cell

(708) 290-7016-Office

kradke@radkerealestate.com

www.radkerealestate.com

Check out some of my prior listings here:

https://www.radkerealestate.com/our-prior-listings.html

You can check out my Zillow profile here:

https://www.zillow.com/myzillow/Profile.htm