Easy Steps to Improve Your Matthews NC Home Value

Donna, one of my current home buyer clients, is very organized in her approach to finding a home. She takes notes on each house that we view. This helps her remember the details and pluses and minuses of each property later when she turns to the process of eliminating those that won’t work for her family.

Last week as we toured a home, Donna made the comment that she could easily rate the property. She was going to give it three Ds. Curious, I asked her what three Ds meant. “Dark, dirty and dated,” she replied.

Dark, dirty and dated.

Those three Ds describe why so many Matthews homes don’t sell for as much as their competition. It amazes me that some home sellers sabotage their home sales with the three Ds when the fixes for these problems can be so simple and mostly inexpensive. Here are some tips for ensuring that your home doesn’t get graded with three Ds.

Dark

This is so easy. Turn all the lights on. Every light in the house, including the lamps. If you have a room that has dark corners, buy an inexpensive pole lamp for uplighting. Open the blinds, shades and curtains. The right amount of light can turn a dungeon into a delight. Why would you let a few pennies for electricity keep you from getting the most value for your biggest investment?

Dirty

One of the easiest ways to improve your home's value is to make it sparkle.

Come on. Buyers don’t want to move into someone else’s filthy home. They notice the ugly stained bathtubs and showers, the spotted carpets, the dusty knickknacks, the dirty windows. They smell your cats and dogs and the fish you had for dinner last night. If you are unable to make your home sparkle for showings, hire someone to clean it for you. Clear out the animal dishes and kitty litter. Remember, if it smells, it won’t sell.

Dated

Yes, updating a home can get expensive. But there are some simple, relatively inexpensive things that you can do to make your home less dated. Do you still have shiny brass fixtures? Shiny brass is out! Replace those light fixtures, faucets and kitchen hardware with something in today’s popular finishes. Updated fixtures can change a home’s look dramatically. You will also get a lot of bang for your buck if you paint your rooms with dark or bold colors a fresh neutral color. Getting a little more expensive, replace that worn out carpet. It doesn’t have to be the most expensive carpet, just new and neutral. The kitchen is everyone’s favorite room. Replacing old appliances and countertops will help you sell your home at top price because buyers won’t be thinking of what they have to do to make the home livable for them.

Don’t let Donna’s three Ds sabotage your Matthews NC home value. Take some steps to keep your home from being labeled dark, dirty and dated. Change one of your biggest investments from DISGUSTING to DELIGHTFUL. Donna would approve.

Location. Price. Condition. The mantra of every good listing agent. This is the story of how one Matthews NC home seller, Melissa, worked on “Condition” and had her home under contract at top price quickly.

Every Matthews NC seller can learn lessons from Melissa’s home-selling odyssey. Although we are currently in a sellers market, not every home sells.  Some languish on the market in spite of tremendous buyer demand.

Melissa started the process with a listing agent who did not stress the importance of the internet in marketing to today’s buyers. Melissa didn’t understand that good photography of her home’s interior and having her home freshened and staged to enable good photography were the basic elements of a successful strategy to sell her home. The result was that Melissa wasted six months and a lot of showings with potential buyers before the listing expired and she decided to make some changes.

What were the simple and relatively inexpensive things that Melissa did to improve her home’s appeal?

Remove furniture, paint walls a neutral color, update carpet and fixtures to improve your home's value.

1. Melissa removed excessive furniture and packed up books and accessories to reduce visual clutter. She reduced the furniture in her great room to a love seat, a coffee table, a small chair and area rug. The room immediately felt spacious.
2. Melissa repainted her dreary white walls with an updated tan color. She added chocolate accents in her hall bath and master bedroom ceiling. She made the rooms pop with a few mirrors and several pieces of colorful artwork.
3. Melissa replaced outdated ceiling fans and light fixtures with new chandeliers and lights.
4. Melissa removed window treatments and blinds to brighten interior rooms and provide views of her pretty backyard.
5. Melissa created simple seating areas on her screen porch and on the backyard patio so that buyers could envision how they would use these areas.
6. Melissa cleaned her carpets and made the rest of the home sparkling clean.

When her home’s makeover was complete, Melissa relisted her home with an agent who knew how to market the home where home buyers are looking—the internet. Professional photographs that showcased the best features of the interior and exterior were taken and uploaded to various websites. Showings began, offers multiplied and soon the house was under contract.

Best of all. Melissa did not have to reduce her price to get her home sold.  In fact, she got more for her home than she expected.  Let Melissa's experience help you improve your Matthews NC home value.