The Upside of Downsizing: Part 2
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October 2011
In the first part of this series, we introduced the concept of real estate downsizing as it pertains to reaching one of our goals along the road to personal freedom. In part 2 of our series, we will discuss the steps that need to be taken in order to complete this process.
One of the elements of downsizing is selling your current home. These are the five areas a REALTOR® oversees.
#1. They help you prepare your property for sale.
#2. They help you determine the best and most appropriate asking price.
#3. They market your property showing off its best features.
#4. They negotiate offers on your behalf.
#5. They oversee all the transactional details.
The area I want to focus on for the purpose of this article is the important first step – helping you prepare your property for sale. If you’ve ever sold a car, I don’t have to tell you that in order to get the most money possible you’ll vacuum the rugs, wash and polish the paint, and make any repairs deemed necessary. That’s just common sense. It’s even more essential to do the same when it comes to one of your largest assets – your house. There is absolutely no doubt that a properly prepared home will sell for more money and spend less time on the market than one that hasn’t been properly prepared.
When you are having your initial conversations with your REALTOR®, it is also the time to begin to make the mental and emotional transition from seeing your property as your home to seeing it as a potential home for a new buyer. If you have lived in your home for a long time, looking at it objectively can be a challenge. Your ability to do this is in your very best interest. Here’s why:
Today’s buyers have been influenced quite profoundly by the media. There are many TV programs that are all about selling and staging properties. Staging a property means a couple of things. First of all, it means creating a neutral ambience so that buyers can come into a home and begin to imagine themselves living there. In other words, the personality and life of the current owners are no longer overwhelmingly present. This may mean that you pack away some of your family pictures, hobby items, knick-knacks and so on.
The other effect staging accomplishes is to make your home look as close to a show home as possible, revealing features of your house to its best advantage. The reason this is important is because buyers are greatly influenced by how the property makes them feel. For instance, an empty house can feel and look forlorn. Equally, a house that is jam-packed with furniture, papers, pictures, collections, and “stuff”, makes it difficult for buyers to imagine themselves living there.
However, a property that has been well-staged looks attractive, spacious, warm and inviting. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: “In my experience, a staged home sells for more money and takes less time on the market to sell”. This is why the best REALTORS® include in their fees a consultation with a professional stager. Unlike interior designers who focus on what the owner likes, professional stagers focus on what buyers like.
The stager will help you decide which pieces of furniture should stay, which should go, and where to place the ones that stay so that the movement through the house has a pleasant flow. The same goes for artwork, and so on.
If you are moving into a considerably smaller place or you simply have an overwhelming amount of furniture and other “stuff” you’ve collected over decades, you may want to call in another professional called a downsizer who can work in conjunction with the stager. A downsizer can remove the overwhelming part of downsizing the contents of your home and make the process easier and more manageable.
Once you’ve decided to make the move and you have a solid idea of the type of new environment in which you want to live, this is the stage of the process when your Realtor, your stager, and your downsizer are going to be your temporary best friends. They will help you think objectively about your property and your belongings. They also have the expertise not only to prepare your property for the market, but they will help you prepare for your move into your new place with just the right amount of furniture and other items that you want to take with you.
Downsizing is your road to freedom. That’s the upside of downsizing. Have a clear goal in mind by discovering what kind of environment you want for your next home. Be proactive and find the professionals with the expertise to help you prepare, stage and downsize so that your move from your current residence to your next one is as smooth and carefree as possible.
Valerie Edwards is a licensed Realtor with Royal LePage Coast Capital Realty.
She has over 21 years of experience in the industry, specializing in the needs of seniors as they pertain to real estate.
Valerie Edwards
Sensitive Sales Solutions
RE/MAX Camosun
Cell: 250-477-9947
Email: valerie@valerieedwards.com
Website: www.valerieedwards.com