How Important is the Condition of a Home When Selling?

Wonder if these sellers know they are painting a wall two different colors?

Asking an experienced Sacramento Realtor about the condition of a home when selling is a smart move. I see so many sellers jump right in on their own, without seeking advice, and making repairs that do not need to be made, which means they are throwing money out the window. Oh, they might backtrack a little and mumble that’s what they wanted to do for the buyers so it doesn’t matter, but it does matter if they could have spent the money on say, oh, maybe a vacation in Hawaii, and they don’t have a money tree growing in their back yard like I do in my yard. You should see it. Incredible. Pops out 100 bills like clockwork.

Facetiousness aside, the first thing that many people wonder about is the condition of a home when selling. Some sellers will say, oh, let’s just sell it AS IS. And you know what? That’s OK. I am not about to impose my sentiment about turnkey homes because it doesn’t apply. On top of that, not everybody is a flipper, even if they spend hours and hours absorbing every episode of that variety on HGTV, that 24-hour eye candy. The fact is flipping takes experience, being in touch with what buyers want and not what you want. Buying materials at wholesale. Finding cheap labor. And then you can still chop down that money tree.

Sellers in Rancho Cordova had asked my thoughts about fixing up their home. I suggested the readily apparent issues that could be easily rectified and produce maximum benefit. They had little precious time, a family of tiny tots, so my suggestions to them were different than what I suggested for a seller in Davis when asked about the condition of a home when selling. The seller in Davis has more time, more resources, but still, we’re not flipping the house.

Of course, having been involved in buying and flipping homes for years and doing all of the work myself, with my own two little hands, it gives me a different perspective. I know how long it takes to perform certain jobs, for example. That information is invaluable to a seller who is doing some of the work herself. I had asked my sellers in Rancho Cordova to paint over a kitchen window, touch-up a ceiling by the entry, paint bedroom doors, wash the front door, install a new closet door in the hallway and remove a living room rug. The house was transformed! We received about a dozen offers.

Even the sellers were amazed. The downside is sometimes they decide not to sell when they sell how beautiful their home can appear. I’ve had that happen before. Providing advice about fixing up the condition of a home when selling is part of my full-service that I provide to my own sellers. I’ve got more than 40 years of experience, and I’m generally spot on. But don’t expect to receive this advice for free. Sellers need to be a client of Elizabeth Weintraub to receive this type of assistance.

Each plan is always tailor-made for my sellers and for the market conditions at hand. We’re in a market now in which the condition of a home when selling is not as important as it was a couple of years ago. But there are still little things that provide a big punch. This is a hot seller’s market. If you want to capitalize, call Elizabeth Weintraub at 916.233.6759.