You are ready. The time has come to sell your house for top dollar. Selling for a top price whether you are an investor or a homeowner, the process will be the same. We have sold many houses at the top of the market too many times to remember and we currently have a handful of homes that will sell this month at the top of the market.
We even tend to push the market to new highs in neighborhoods. Before you could sell for a top price, your house will need to be in top condition to get the top dollar. We will share what has been a proven process for us. If your house needs a lot of tender loving care, expect to spend a lot of money to get top of the market. Here are some easy steps on what you should do to prepare and sell any house for top price:
Determine The House Condition
Before you sell the house make sure your house is the best-looking one in the neighborhood without doing too much or too little. Every price point is different. For you to get the top price for your property, you need to understand your selling price and what sellers are expected to do.
Before starting your renovation, do some market research on your property. Look at other sold properties that were at the top of the market. Use those properties as baseline for what you will need to do.
If you are renovating a higher-priced property, consider putting in hardwood floors, for example. If renovating a lower-priced property, laminate floors may be appropriate. Regardless of the area, the house will need to be in great shape.
Do Some Exterior Renovation If Needed
You need to be thorough and consider what would the buyer ask for before you could sell your house for top price. Make sure the following are well-taken care of:
1. Mechanical and Structural Parts
To get top of the market, all structural and mechanical parts must be in proper, working order; this is non-negotiable. If something is not working as intended, get it fixed professionally. These include plumbing, air conditioning, heat, electrical, foundation, roof and framing.
Siding
Brick Siding
Brick veneer siding normally does not need work, but in Texas we have expansive soil movement. This tends to crack the mortar between bricks. If you have a crack in your brick siding, you must get someone who specializes in repairing damaged brickwork.
Please do not let just anyone try to fix cracked mortar. By anyone, I mean those with no background and non-professional help. When they finish, you be unhappy. When a professional replaces damaged brick and fills in mortar cracks, you will not be able to see where the old cracks or damaged bricks were. If the brick is in very bad shape or it is not aesthetically pleasing, we often have the brick painted. We have done the brick siding repair many times and this will give the house a fresh, new vibe.
Fiber cement siding
If you have newer fiber cement siding in good shape, replace only those that are damaged. If you have older fiber cement siding — the kind that has the square tile look — and it is in really poor shape, replace everything with new, horizontal lap siding.
Vinyl Siding
Inspect all vinyl siding to see if its coming loose or if has been damaged in anyway. If only a small percent of the siding has been damaged I would only replace the damaged pieces. If the majority of the siding is damaged, I would replace with horizontal lap fiber cement siding.
Aluminum Siding
We do not like aluminum siding; it always seems to be in horrible shape. We have always replaced it with horizontal lap fiber cement siding. But if it is in great shape, you have no need to replace it. Do some market research of other sold houses in your neighborhood and if they sold for top price then so should yours.
Stucco
For stucco repair, have a professional replace damaged areas so you will get a seamless, predictable finish.
Fascia Boards and Soffit
Replace all rotten or damaged fascia boards (the horizontal boards behind gutters) and soffit panels (under the eaves) on every property.
Exterior Paint
If your house has not been painted within the last five years, you may want to consider having it professionally painted. We have painted the exterior of every house we sold for top price.
Landscape
Large trees
Buyers want a good view of their property from the street, for both security and pride, so if you have large, untrimmed trees with limbs blocking the view, have them trimmed back so you have a clear view of the property. If your tree limbs are touching your roof this is bad and they must be trimmed back.
Edging and Grass
Have the grass cut and lawns edged every two weeks when selling your house for top price. The last thing you want is overgrown grass.
Fresh Mulch and Plants
Do not get too excited and spend all your money on the landscape. If you do not have any plants, however, you can plant a couple of plants with fresh mulch to help with your curb appeal.
If you already have plants, check to see if they need to be trimmed back. Add some fresh mulch to help give a finished look. We currently use black mulch, a current trend, and everyone really likes it.
As part of making your landscape beautiful, pick up all trash and organize all items in yard.
Fencing
If you do not have a fence and your next door neighbors have a lot of clutter in their yards, or they do not like to keep their yard properly mowed, or they own a lot of animals, put up a fence. That way, the buyer will have some privacy. Nobody will pay top price for a house with an easily visible, unsightly mess next door.
Some neighborhoods do not have fences. If the neighbors are clean, you have no reason to put a fence.
Some neighborhoods compel you to get a new fence to get a top price for the property. If your property is in such area, only replace the fence if it is literally about to fall over. There are times, the fence will be in great shape, but leaning over. This is because whoever installed the fence did not put concrete into the post holes. Such a fence can be straightened and secured without replacing it.
Following is a list of items that you should consider having pressure-washed if you want to sell your house for to get top price:
- Driveways
- Garage
- Siding
- Fence
- Sidewalk
Roof
Replace the roof if it is in horrible shape or will not pass inspection. Call several contractors to give you their opinions and competitive bids. You can also call an inspector who is not trying to sell a roofing service, for an unbiased opinion.
If your roof is in substantially good shape but has algae growing on it, the discoloration can be fixed by contractor who specializes in cleaning roofs. This will make your roof look like new again.
Windows
Wood Windows
We always replace the old wood windows in a house with new vinyl windows. We do not buy properties in historic districts, so if you are in one of these areas you may have to stay with the wood windows to be compliant with codes. All wooden windows in houses we have sold have not been in working order and had to be replaced.
Aluminum Windows
We only replace aluminum windows if they are no longer working. We have only replaced aluminum windows on a handful of houses. We will replace aluminum windows with new vinyl windows. Normally, with aluminum window, we just replace the broken glass and then take extra time to clean them thoroughly.
Concrete
Driveways
Most driveways will be salvageable. With all the houses we have renovated, we have only had to replace two driveways. If your driveway is not level, you may only need to mudjack it to make it level again. Mudjacking involves injecting a slurry of concrete under pressure beneath the uneven pavement to force it up and level.
Patios
We have only had to pour a concrete patio one time,because the house did not have one. If the existing patio has many cracks running through it, but still in good shape, you can always put slate over concrete to give it a fresh look. If the patio is sloping or not level, have it mud jacked it to make it level.
The Interior Re-modelling Is Important
Much of the information for the inside of the property is the same as for the exterior of your property. We want this property to be the best-looking property in the neighborhood without spending too much or too little in order to sell for top price.
Every neighborhood is different and calls for different materials. Use caution when choosing materials for your house. If the last remodeling was thirty years ago, the time has come to remodel it now.
Cabinets and Vanities
Paint
If your cabinets are in great shape but just a little worn, just paint them.
Replace
When your cabinets are falling apart, or the doors will not close, or they have a lot of damage, replace them. Your price range for your house determines if you go with prefabricated cabinets or custom-built cabinets.
Hardware
We put hardware on all cabinets and vanities every time we sell for top dollar.
Flooring
We have never been able to leave all the existing flooring. We have always had to replace some of the flooring. If you just replaced the floor a couple of years back, and you have managed to keep in in good shape, you should be fine. If many years have passed since your last new floor, you most likely need to replace it with more modern flooring.
Paint
Every single property that we have ever sold for top dollar has had a fresh interior paint job. If you do not have your interior repainted, and the last paint job was five or more years ago, your entire interior will need some touch up work at the very minimum.
Electrical Fixtures
Face Plates, Outlets and Switches
If these are the old vanilla color, or they are extremely dirty, replace them.
Light Fixtures and Ceiling Fans
Old gold light fixtures and ceiling fans should be replaced with new fixtures. Depending on your preference, the trend now is brushed nickel or bronze. Almost every property we sale for top of the market get new electrical fixtures.
Plumbing Fixtures
Bathroom Fixtures
If you have old gold plumbing fixtures, replace them with modern brushed nickel or bronze fixtures.
Tub Surround
Replace the old one-piece tub surround with modern tile that has a nice mosaic.
Bathtubs
Do you have the beautiful green or pink bathtub? If so, it is old and should be replaced with a new white metal or plastic bathtub, depending on your price point. If your bathtub is rusted or cracked, replace it with a new tub.
Doors
If eight out of 10 interior doors are damaged and they are the old flush panel style, replace them all. If only two out of 10 doors are damaged and your house has flush panel doors and selling price is under $300,000, fix or replace just the damaged doors.
Six-panel doors are currently the preferred door, but they are cheaper than two-panel doors. We put six-panel doors in all houses under $300,000. Do market research for your area and see what types of interior doors the sold houses have.
Baseboard
If we have two-inch or shorter baseboard, replace all baseboards in the house. I have only had extremely small baseboard in a handful of houses, but in my opinion it is ugly and needs to be replaced to get top of the market.
Counter tops
Do not put in laminate counter tops if you hope to get top of the market. Choose some type of stone. We put granite in all of our houses.
Backsplash
We put backsplash in the kitchen for every property we are going to sell when we want to get top of the market.
Appliances
We put stainless steel appliances in all of our properties we are selling. Your home’s sale price determines how much you should spend on appliances.
We have only put a refrigerator in one house that we sold at top of the market because the person who sold us the house sold it to us at a price we could not refuse.
After all the repairs are done in the external and internal parts of the house, it is high time to make the finishing touches in order to sell your hour for top price. Here are what you should do:
Clean
The renovations are now done. Get your house cleaned well. Get all the clutter picked up. Keep your house immaculate until you get it sold. If you have animals and you keep them inside, do your best to keep the house smelling fresh.
Staging
We only do light staging with our properties. We put rugs down and place some accessories in the kitchen and bathroom.
We have never done a full staging with furniture in all rooms. For the price point at which we are selling, we have proven that level staging is unnecessary, a simple one still works.
Professional Photos
Have professional photos taken of your property, no matter what real estate agents or friends tell you. The difference between professional photos and a real estate agent’s camera phone is not even comparable. Professional photographers would know the lighting techniques and right angles to sell your house for top price.
See some photos on a property we just listed. Great Pictures Sell the House For Top Price
Hiring a Real Estate Agent
When looking for a good REALTOR® or real estate agent, you may need to interview between five and 10 realtors before you find one you like and think can get the job done for you in order to sell your house for top price.
Tell each agent to provide you with a Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) of your property and what each thinks it will sell for. You should already know the answer by now but ask them: What is the most a house has sold for in this neighborhood? Ask each to provide you with photos so you can see other similar homes compare to your property.
Some real estate agents will promise the world to get the listing and may tell you information that is not realistic. By interviewing several agents, you get a good idea of the selling price for your house.
Anyone can get top of the market. You just must be willing to put in the work. It is indeed a lot of work, but if you really want to sell your house for top price, you will not mind being thorough and detailed.
Check this blog on tips of how we can get top dollars for our houses and can push the market by $10K.
Like this post Please share it! So I can continue providing information for free, ONLY because you share my work!
Please subscribe to our social media for Awesome updates, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter