Preparing your South Lake Tahoe real estate to list can feel overwhelming. How many times have you heard friends discussing upgrades they want to make before they resale? Sometimes sellers make listing a bigger production then it needs to be. You don’t need to redo your entire home for sale in South Lake Tahoe in order to have a successful real estate experience. In fact, you can get your home ready in just a few simple steps! However, these steps are very important.
Declutter
When preparing your South Lake Tahoe real estate for the market, it is crucial that you go through your personal belongings and figure out what can stay, what can go and what can be packed now and placed into storage. This will be a lot of work to start but is beneficial for many reasons. One reason being that depersonalizing your home for sale in South Lake Tahoe appeals to a wide variety of buyers. People like to imagine their stuff in the space. If you have the home cluttered with photos, art work and “stuff”, it can be distracting and prevent them from really “seeing” the house. Truthfully, it creates a clean canvas in which buyers can imagine the space as their home. Taking down photos, repainting walls and packing things up can feel sad but this process is dual purpose. When moving you should go through your stuff anyway and figure out what needs to be sold, donated, tossed altogether or can go to the next place. Once you have figure that out, you can start packing up things you know you don’t have to use in the next couple months. This cuts down on the stress that comes with packing and moving.
Clean
Make sure your home for sale in South Lake Tahoe is clean and sanitary. This means all the nooks and cranny’s up high and down low. You may overlook the spiderwebs or dirty fan, but a fresh set of eyes is paying attention to all the details. Get out the magic eraser and clean the walls and baseboards, wipe down the blinds, clean the windows and deep clean the floors. An unsanitary home can turn a potential buyer away.
Make Repairs
If someone makes an offer on your real estate in South Lake Tahoe, there are likely going to be some repairs and fixes that come back on the inspection report. May as well get a head start and fix the little stuff. Ask your South Lake Tahoe realtor for a referral for the big stuff you know needs to be done. Some stuff you should absolutely delegate out to an expert while there will be little things you can do with a quick trip to the local hardware store. Things buyers find attractive are a newer roof, appliances, water heater, furnace and electrical. If you know some of these need an upgrade, consider doing it ahead of time instead of waiting for it to come back on the inspection report. It may feel like a big expense, however these changes can be highlighted in the marketing remarks. If you don’t want to spend the money on these items, your South Lake Tahoe realtor may suggest selling “as is” for a lower price point.
Curb Appeal
Once you have made sure the inside is all squared away, take a tour of the exterior of your real estate in South Lake Tahoe. Curb appeal is the first impression buyers get of your home so go stand on the sidewalk and look at the little things you may have not paid attention to that have gone to wayside. Is there chipped paint? Does the mailbox need to be replaced? Do you need new house numbers? How does the yard look? Clean up leaves, twigs, pine cones and add a splash of color with some planted flowers. These are easy changes to make as well as affordable.
Tahoe Specific Tasks
Lake Tahoe’s mountain conditions require a little extra effort from sellers of real estate in South Lake Tahoe. During the summer you should ensure you have the proper defensible fire space around your home. Clean up pine needles and move them away from yards, decks and walk ways. During the winter, keep your home at a minimum of 60 degrees. This makes sure prospective buyers aren’t hurrying through because your home is too cold AND helps to keep pipes from freezing. Also make sure that snow is removed from driveways and walk ways. A home that is hard to get to may not be toured at all depending on the buyer.
When listing, be sure to discuss the specific “do’s and don’ts” of your home with your South Lake Tahoe realtor. We are a great source of information and can provide the extra details that can make a difference in getting your home sold quickly and for the most amount of money.
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