Tips for Selling Property

When selling a property, the first impressions of the Buyer are vital.  When the Buyer gets out of the Broker's car they are in sensory overdrive.  They are listening, smelling and looking intensely.  Once they are in a property the same thing is happening but they are also touching and feeling!  If that hand rail is loose or the door is difficult to open they register it.  If the home has a doggy or catty smell that will downgrade the value of the property more significantly than you want to imagine.......  Getting your property in a condition to sell is well worth the effort.  It can add thousands, if not tens or hundreds of thousands to the value of your home in some instances. 

• Maintain a light and bright ambience.  Try to always have blinds, curtains open (unless looking at something unsightly!).
• Put lights on.
• Fresh paint on exterior and interior.
• New carpet if needed.
• Re-grout tiles if needed.
• Replace cracked or damaged windows.
• New deck and entry stain, sealant or paint.
• New lights if they are very dated.
• Maintain garden, new flowers, get rid of weeds or over-grown fauna.
• Reduce clutter to an absolute minimum.
• New roof or siding if needed.
• Repair leaks if any.
• Service boiler heating system and keep the receipts to give to Buyer.
• Make sure your property is always available to show as much as possible.
• If you do have pets, removing them from the property is ideal.  However, if this is not possible put them somewhere out of the way.  Many people are very scared of dogs.
• If you have tenants in your property, make sure you get their full cooperation about the home being in a presentable manner and available to show.  Negotiate your rental contract with them with this in mind.
• Remove any invasive smells.  Pet smells, damp smells etc.

One of the most recent gremlins to a real estate sale that is consistently appearing in Breckenridge and Summit County are crawl spaces and attic spaces.  Quite often, these areas are neglected and all sorts of problems can arise that terminate the Buyer's desire to purchase the property.  If damp gets into a crawl space or attic and creates a humid atmosphere, mold can grow.  99.9% of the time the mold is just harmless mildew, but it nearly always causes concern to a Buyer.  Mold has been blown of proportion in the media recently as a dangerous condition of a property.  The dangerous molds are very rare.  It is best to have a home inspector check a crawl space to see if there is any mold, damp or leaking problems and to take care of them before you put the home on the market.  These problems are nearly always very easy to fix and you will be thankful later when selling the property.  Radon is also now becoming an issue that needs to be dealt with. The Federal Safety Standard for Radon Levels is 4 Pico curies/liter of air.  More than 50% of all homes in Summit County have a higher level than that and many home inspectors will test for it.  Be prepared to have to mitigate the level down within Federal guidelines.  It generally costs between $1,200 to $2000 to have corrected under normal circumstances.

The inclement weather variations in this high altitude environment play havoc with roofs.  If a roof manufacturer states it has a 40 year warranty, divide that by 2 for up here. Those warranties are based upon a roofs longevity in not so harsh a climate. If your roof is old and in need of replacement, do it before selling.

In all these things, I am conscientious that some of them can incur significant expenditure on your part, however,  the Buyer coming to purchase a property in Breckenridge or Summit County is generally a very busy professional person.  They do not have time in most cases to buy a  'fixer-upper.'  They will want to buy a property that has been well maintained and will be the minimum of trouble for them to own going forward.  They do not know who the good roofing companies, plumbers or mold removal companies are.  If you eliminate these problems for them they are more likely to buy your property.

Timing is important too.  We sell 70% of all our real estate in the summer months with a rush happening in September and October before the next ski season.  Some properties show a lot better in the summer than in the winter, yet others show better in the winter than in the summer!  For example, if you have a ski run that is directly in front of your property it will sell very well in ski season.  It quite often depends on the market, the supply of other properties similar to yours and availability to show (sometimes a broker and their client cannot get into the property because it is always rented).  It is best to consult these factors with your listing broker.