Real Estate

Look at your Bathroom – what do you see?

Pretend for just a moment that you’re a prospective home Buyer. If you were out searching for a home to buy and came across a bathroom in a home, what would be some of the things that you would find appealing, even if it wasn’t all about upgrades? Read below and tell me if it hits home with you on how to get your bathroom ready when selling a home.

Stand at your bathroom doorway – what do you see? Where are your eyes drawn, either pleasantly or not so pleasantly. That unsightly draw is a clear sign of what you’ll need to address. The pleasant draw is a good thing…carry on.

There very well may be unsightly items that you’ve come so accustomed to that you hardly notice them any more. Like that cabinet door hinge that is loose or what about your loose toilet seat cover that is flailing in the wind; every time you sit down it’s like you’re getting ready to surf with the movement from left to right! Ha…tighten up those underside toilet seat cover bolts! Or how about the dirty A/C ceiling vent overhead? Get on your step stool and wipe it down. Don’t let a prospective home Buyer think that you neglect things in your home. A red flag for lack of maintenance.

What is on top of your countertops?

See that toothbrush and toothpaste laying out? You’ll want to make sure you store that away in your bathroom cabinet. Your countertops need to be free of anything other than a decorative piece or two. Not sure what is decorative and looks good on your countertop, just ask me and I’ll make some recommendations in your bathroom. I’ve got a knack for interior design and decorating…yes, my skills expand beyond selling a home!

This recommended minimalism on your bathroom countertops is critically important, especially when you’re selling a home with bathrooms that are on the small side. You’ll want to make it appear that your bathrooms are as large as possible – cluttered tops display to prospective home Buyers that your bathrooms aren’t large enough for your bathroom storage.

What’s in your cabinets?

Now is the time to clean and organize the inside of your cabinets. Have you been lacking in storage over the years? If so, don’t let the Buyer know that – clean out the things you’re not using every day and make room or space. Cabinets stacked full is a turn off to Buyers and they will open your cabinets to see. They want to know that your cabinets provide space for their things. Sell your house fast in Tampa Florida.

What is the condition of your shower and/or bathtub?

Missing grout or moldy grout? If you’re not handy, hire a handyman to replace any missing grout or grout that is less than attractive. You’d be amazed at how prospective home Buyers will knock dollars off their purchase offer for seeing visually disturbing grout areas. Don’t give them an opportunity to reduce their offer. Plus a bathroom that appears to have been well cared for will bring in a higher purchase price, as the Buyer thinks you must have been caring for your whole house.

What about your faucets?

Unless you have recently replaced your bathroom sink faucet, consider replacing it with a new fixture. A hands free one would be particularly welcome, especially in light of our nations focus on cleanliness to avoid viruses. Smart technology makes hands free brilliant and appealing to those Buyers who demand smart technology. They do tend to be a bit pricier, so if not in your budget a “hands on” faucet will work too!

Shower doors and curtains

Now is the time to remove the soap scum from your shower door or replace any worn shower curtain.

Once you bring your glass shower door up to par, invest in a squeegee to clean your doors after every shower you take thereafter. You’d be amazed at how well they work to keep your door brilliantly clean! I’ll never forget when I had invested in one of them – love it!

Overall bathroom quick fixes:

Getting your bathroom ready when selling a home

Making a bathroom pop with cleanliness and fresh color will woo a Buyer.

Paint the walls a fresh coat of paint to cover up the water marks that have been splashing and then drying on the wall.

Replace your wall mirror if it has seen better days.

Make sure you have lightbulbs in all of your light fixtures or replace fixtures if it too has seen better days.

Put out clean, fresh towels – a new, white set is even better!

Get that floor tile grout clean – try baking soda, peroxide and a toothbrush.

Get out the cleaners and scrub to your heart’s content to reveal brightness you might not have seen in a while. Sparkle and shine is the goal in your bathroom.

And last but not least, ALWAYS keep your toilet lid in the down position when trying to sell a home – most importantly when you’re having photos taken to display for the world to see.

Does your budget allow for greater remodeling in your bathroom?

If so, it would be a great time to remodel your bathroom bringing it up to a buyer’s expectations. Bathrooms are rooms in a home that do matter and do indeed sell homes, where they truly add to a home’s value when remodeling.

Read the articles below to help you with your budget, chose of a contractor, features to consider, trends and a whole lot more:

Remodeling a Bathroom

Bathroom Trends

Wrap Up

Second to the kitchen, bathrooms can be a make or break factor when selling your home. Pay close attention to the tips discussed above, so you can be sure to make the most money you can when it’s time to sell a home.

First-Time Home Seller Tips

Tips for Home Sellers

Buying a home for the first time can be quite exciting. Conversely, selling a home for the first time can be nerve-wracking. Indeed, it can be an emotional endeavor parting with a place that you’ve been living in for years.

On the practical side of things, selling a home takes a lot of work. You need to invest a lot of time, in particular, especially when it comes to meeting with potential buyers and negotiating prices. The process itself can also be difficult to deal with, which can lead to frustration and disappointments. In addition, it’s highly likely that you’ll be selling and buying at the same time.

This situation can easily double or triple the stress you’re feeling.

In short, you need to prepare well. If you’re a first-time home seller, here are some tips that can help make the experience a lot easier:

Work With a Real Estate Professional

You may have bought your own home successfully without working with a Real Estate professional, but selling is another story. In some ways, it’s more complicated and therefore easier to get wrong. Having a Real Estate professional at your side to guide you every step of the way can take a huge burden off your shoulders.

The main thing you need to decide on is whether you want to work with a real estate agent or a broker. Either real estate professional can help you sell your home the right way, but their roles have a few differences. A Real Estate Agent is licensed to assist people in buying, selling, and renting real estate. They are paid a commission that is about 6% of the property’s sale price.

Meanwhile, a Real Estate Broker is a real estate agent who has continued their education and has earned a broker’s license. They can still work as agents but they can also start their own real estate brokerage and hire a team of Agents to work with them. (You can go here if you’d like to have an idea about some of the things that a real estate broker does.)

With a reliable Real Estate professional at your side, you can rest assured that you’ll receive a good price. You can also sell your house much faster, as well as hand over matters such as showing the property to potential buyers and filing the paperwork. Real Estate professionals can even vet people so you don’t have to deal with scammers or other ill-intentioned parties.

Stage Your Home

As with anything that’s being sold, your home will be scrutinized by potential buyers. It’s perfectly understandable, of course, since a home is a big pretty big investment and people want to get their money’s worth. You probably did it too, when you were still thinking about buying the property, right? All of this is to say that you need to prepare the house for visitation purposes. This is what’s known in the industry as “staging.”

A Real Estate Agent can help you with this matter. They can set up each room in the most appealing style to entice buyers to sign their name on the deed. Don’t be surprised if most of your furniture will be removed; a house stages better if there’s ample space to move around for a quick “tour.” Moreover, a house that’s being sold ideally should look like a showroom rather than an actual lived-in house. This way, potential buyers can easily imagine themselves living in that space.

Take Good Photos

Nowadays, most people will start looking for homes for sale online. This means that a lot of the interest will be driven by content such as photos and videos. If you take bad pictures, you’ll most likely turn off buyers. No amount of “it looks so much better in person” captions will be able to fully convince people that your house is not as drab as the photos you’ve posted.

If you can, hire a photographer to take really great photos of your home. Nothing beats the creative eye of a professional and they can even add their own artistic touches to your home to showcase it better. However, if a photographer’s fee is out of the budget, you can easily take great photos using your own camera or even your smartphone. Study how professional photos look and try to replicate the shots. Natural light is your best friend, as is a wide-angle lens so you can present better perspectives.

Better yet, hire a Real Estate professional who will take care of the photos for you by having a professional photograph your home.

Be Open to Negotiation

It’s rare to find a buyer who will automatically agree with your asking price. Again, a home is a big investment. If people can find ways to save even just a couple thousand dollars, they would definitely take it. Thus, you need to be patient when the price negotiations inevitably happen. Besides, a lot of home-buying agreements include inspections. This is to protect the buyers and reassure them they aren’t being short-changed.

The good thing is that if you hire a real estate agent, they can handle all the negotiations for you. They can advise you as to how much you can adjust the price, as well as on other matters such as repairs, insurance, and other inclusions or exclusions.

Sell at the Right Time

There’s such a thing as the right time to sell a house. The best opportunity is when you have a seller’s market—a situation when there are more home buyers than available properties. This will give you more wiggle room when it comes to price negotiations.

On the other hand, the least ideal time to sell a house is during winter months, if you’re in the North, and the holidays. People are usually busy celebrating, visiting loved ones, or simply spending time at home due to the cold weather. Severe conditions can also disrupt home visit schedules. Of course, this also means that there will be fewer sellers to compete against which can skew the odds in your favor. Depending on the buyer’s circumstances, you may be able to sell your home for a higher price during this period.

You should also take into consideration that the COVID-19 pandemic has changed whatever unspoken “rules” there were with regards to home buying and selling. Again, your Real Estate Agent or Broker can help you navigate these matters and give you advice so you can make the right decision.

Insure the Property

Insuring your home can increase a buyer’s confidence, since they’ll be protected in case there are any accidents while they’re viewing your home. Of course, it’s also standard practice to remove any hazards on the premises before showing your property to potential buyers. If you have a dog, no matter how friendly it is, it’s best to get it out of the house before any showings.

You should also coordinate with your Real Estate Agent or Broker about other important information. For example, if you have a cat, potential buyers with allergies should be informed. You should definitely clean up the place beforehand, but it’s still better to have everything laid out at the beginning so that there are no surprises.

Wrapping up Considerations

Finally, the best thing you can do as a first-time home seller is to prepare yourself not just financially, but also mentally and emotionally. This way, if anything goes wrong, you won’t be disappointed or too stressed.

Still, with the help of these tips, you can lessen the risk of encountering less-than-ideal scenarios and sell your house as smoothly as possible. Good luck!