Selling your Houston Inner Loop Home
takes some planning and preparation, but it is not too daunting a task with the right professionals and proper planning.
A key point though is preparation of the house prior to putting it on the market. This is especially true if you are selling an older home. Selling your Houston Heights home or Woodland Heights home for instance, involves a little more work than would a recently built home. The same applies to other older homes, such as those in Houston’s Oak Forest, Garden Oaks, Lindale Park and Spring Branch neighborhoods.
Preparing Your House for Sale – 5 steps
- Feel & think like a buyer. Buyers feel more than they think when viewing a house. They obviously think about price, location, affordability, investment potential, etc., but this is before stepping into the home. When at the house, the right side of the brain takes over. They feel that the house is warm & inviting; they feel that the house is bright & cheerful; they feel your Houston Heights home has lots of room; they feel the house has been well maintained. They either feel these things, or they don’t!
So, you can try to explain how just removing the heavy drapes could lighten up the dark house; how the plants shading all the windows could be cut back to lighten it; how the buyers could easily fix that dripping faucet with just a washer; how the house smells like dog because you just haven’t had time to wash Fido lately. You can explain to them how a few hours work or a few hundred bucks will make a huge difference… WRONG! You won’t get that chance. Buyers interested in buying that older Heights or Timbergrove home don’t want work; they don’t want explanations. There should be nothing that needs an explanation.
After all, which makes you feel better; a cute, clean, bright, sparkling house, ready to move into… or… a house with peeling paint, minor repairs, overcrowded rooms and dark spaces? - Take care of maintenance items: Before you list your home for sale take care of all the minor fix up, repair, and maintenance items. Potential buyers don’t want to see work, maintenance and headaches. They want to envision peace, relaxation, and enjoyment. So, no dripping or corroded faucets; no cracked windowpanes; no peeling paint.
- Curb Appeal: This is tremendous. I’ve had people not get out of the car because they were turned off by appearances. Plants looking ragged? Dog trails? Weeds? Spend some money and time and make these look good. You have to at least get the potential buyers out of the car.
- The front porch is critical on older homes. It’s a second chance to make a good impression. While the realtor is fumbling with the keys, are the potential buyers noting the smudged windows, cobwebs, peeling paint on the front door? It’s better if they are admiring how clean and sparkly things are and noting the newly painted front door. After all, people love those porches. Make them inviting too.
- Inside the house. A few favorite descriptive terms by realtors are: light and bright; open and airy; spacious rooms; lots of storage. The realtor will not say; dark and dreary, cramped and full of stuff; but the photos will show it. A huge closet full of stuff will be seen as not having enough closet space. A smaller, near empty closet will be seen as spacious. Get rid of stuff! You know you are going to dump it when you move anyway. Do it now.
Should you update fixtures, etc.? Worn out items that can be easily replaced probably should be. Major updates? Probably not…ask your realtor on specifics.
So, that’s it. At each point of preparing your house for sale – look at it the through buyers eyes. Does it evoke a negative or positive emotion? Make it positive.
Look for future posts on selling your home:
- Pricing the home
- Which first: Buy or sell?
- Picking a realtor
- What to expect of your realtor
- Which time of year is best to sell?
- How long will it take to sell your home?
Rich Martin is a Houston Inner Loop Realtor. He specializes in the delightful homes in older neighborhoods.
Incoming search terms:
- Selling things in houston
- house for sale in houston to be moved
- older houses to be moved tx
- heights houston home to be moved
- how long does it take to sell a house in houston tx
- how long take house sell Houston
- how long to sell a home in heights houston tx
- inner loop home buying
- listing your home in heights
- old heights houses for sale to be moved
Related posts:
- Interactive Map of Houston Inner Loop Neighborhoods
- Houston For Sale by Owner: 20 Tips for Selling Your Own House.
- Houston Inner Loop Home Sticker Shock. Why the Cost?
- Houston For Sale By Owner – Hints on Selling Houston Inner Loop Land and Vacant Lots
- Charming Houston Heights Home For Sale…No, No, Not Charming!
