As we have discussed in the past, there are many advantages to using the accelerated marketing and auction method for selling your home. One of the side benefits is not having to leave your home for hours at a time and on an almost “on call” basis as people are scheduled to see it. Instead, when you sell by auction, we will schedule just a few dates with you, that you will have on your calendar well ahead of time, for those interested in bidding to have the opportunity for a walk through.
Having said that, you are still likely to get more interest and more bidders if you have “staged” your home to be as attractive as possible to bidders. Thus, we recommend that you consider working with us to complete a few low-cost upgrades, decluttering, cleaning, and placing furniture in visually pleasing ways.
Low-cost upgrades can make all the difference in the world. You know that spot on the ceiling from an old roof leak? People see that and are worried about the possibility of more leaks. If the roof has been fixed, it makes sense to take the time to repaint the ceiling and get rid of those stains. You know how you’ve been planning on fixing that loose step or railing? Doing it before you show your home reduces potential buyers’ concerns about maintenance issues in general. Maybe the caulking around your bathtub has seen its better days. Taking the time to fix it now could well help you sell your home for thousands more during the auction. Making your home as “move in ready” as possible puts you at a definite advantage.
Decluttering and cleaning are some of the lowest cost actions you can take to increase the desirability of your home. What you see as warm memories, others see as clutter. More importantly, the clutter has the optical illusion of reducing the size and warmth of your rooms. It makes it difficult for people to picture their stuff in your home … to see themselves feeling warm and comfy in the same space.
The same is true for cleaning. Many of us tend to stop seeing the hand marks around the light switches or up the stair wall where people lean as they walk. We block out the grease splatter behind the stove. We get used to the worn section in the carpet. We get used to the water mark on the wooden floor. We stop seeing the dirt on the windows. But people prepared to buy at auction see all of it. They see those imperfections as things they must fix or clean before they can move in and feel at home.
Finally, as time goes on, many of us squeeze comfortable furniture and family heirlooms into spaces that aren’t really big enough to display them well. As a result large, spacious rooms sometimes feel small and cramped. If you don’t place furniture to take best advantage of showing off space, people are less likely to see the space in its actual dimensions. They tend, instead, to see the room as smaller than it actually is.
Thus, when you work with us, we will go through your home with you and make suggestions about what actions you might take to show it off and achieve a “top dollar bid.” We won’t leave you alone in these decisions. We will work alongside you to find low-cost methods to hi-lite your home’s best features.
The end result … selling your home by auction at the highest level possible … will be well worth the time and effort.