Don’t Miss the Boat! Prepare Your Home Now for a 2017 Sale

Are you thinking of putting your home on the market this spring? If so, now’s the time to get your home in top shape. Here are several helpful tips to get you started on the road toward a quick home sale at the best price:

• Spruce up the exterior of your home. While the weather is still cooperating this fall, make sure to address any exterior paint, shingle, chimney, stonework, driveway, and landscaping issues. A long cold winter may delay these repairs and cause you to list your home in less than perfect condition or miss the prime March through June selling season.

• Take exterior photographs of your home during the beautiful fall weather. Outstanding photography is the key to impressing a buyer. Once you’ve addressed any exterior issues, be sure to take stunning photos that include the fall colors. Put pots of chrysanthemums next to the front door for added color. Then, when you are ready to put your home on the market, you’ll have great photos to show.

• Think about investing in a pre-listing engineering inspection. Buyers and sellers don’t like surprises. A pre-listing inspection can help you discover any issues your home may have in advance, give you time to correct any problems, and allow you to be confident that your home is in perfect condition and can withstand even the most detailed buyer scrutiny.

• Use the long winter months to prepare the interior of your home. Start with de-cluttering. Decide what you must absolutely keep, and then sell, donate, put in storage, or throw away the rest. This will help make your space look larger and neater when your home is shown.

• Consider investing in the most important rooms in the house: the kitchen and bathrooms. Think about re-grouting, replacing broken tile, and even re-glazing older bathtubs and tile to repair any scratches and update to a modern color. Old, dark wood kitchen and bathroom cabinets should be painted in brighter, fresher colors, and out-of-date hardware and lighting fixtures can be easily replaced with more contemporary styles.

• Interview Realtors to decide whom you want to work with to sell your home. Make sure you interview more than one Realtor before you decide whom to hire. You may be working with your agent for several months, so it is important to find someone you like and trust. Your Realtor can help you save time and money, and can turn a potentially overwhelming and stressful experience into a smooth and successful one.

Fiona Dogan is a Licensed Realtor® in the Rye office of Julia B. Fee Sotheby’s International Realty. She is a Westchester Five Star Real Estate Agent, Platinum Award winner, and an Accredited Buyer Representative. For more information, please contact Fiona Dogan at: fiona.dogan@juliabfee.com or visit her website at www.fionadogan.com.