Redux Realtors: Don’t underestimate the power of presentation of a home

For our latest project, we were asked to look at the home of a past clients’ parents in La Mirada. The parents are elderly and no longer able to live alone.

While the home had been loved, it had not been updated in many, many years. The parents were not too keen on the idea of spending money on a home makeover given that there was no firm guarantee as to what the home would actually sell for.

We got the bids and showed the homeowners that by spending a relatively small amount of money on improvements they would net a much higher amount in a sales price.

The daughter, who was handling the parents’ move from the home and responsible of clearing out all their personal items, was a little overwhelmed. We assured her that if she and her parents gave us the green light to do the work, she could walk away and come back in time for the first open house.

She took a little convincing that it could be that easy.

So upon receiving approval to start the Redux, we got busy. The painters started interior and exterior painting. Then the old, tired carpet was removed and where there were hardwood floors, our hardwood floor finisher brought the floors back to their original glory!

Then the gardener started a big clean up in the yard – front and back. Next came the new carpet installation on the slab floors in the living and dining rooms, and on the stairs. Window cleaners and general house cleaners completed their work, and we were ready for staging.

Martina had already created her design concept for the home, so in approximately three days the home was ready to be professionally photographed and go on the market.

We pushed the price $10,000 higher than we had taken the listing at upon seeing the transformation of the home. And the offers started coming in. We opened escrow seven days after listing the home at a sales price $10,000 higher than our asking price.

Please don’t ever underestimate the power of proper presentation of a home. The money spent on a makeover is definitely going to bring a higher sales price.

House hunters like homes that are move-in ready, and that’s what James and Martina of Bobbett & Associates strive to provide on every one of their listings.