Rebecca Bomann, the CEO of SASH Services, joins Suzanne Newman to talk about tips to help get your house ready to be sold. Continuing from part 3, in this segment Rebecca shares two more low-cost suggestions to maximize your net proceeds at the end of the sale.
11. Add a fresh scent: Apple cinnamon or raspberry, with fragrances that aren’t plugged in chemicals that could trigger allergies, a bowl of pot pourri, providing a pleasant scent.
12. Leave while it’s listed. If you’re still living in the house, and have to make the bed, do dishes, and clean laundry before each showing, that keeps buyers waiting. Eight showings in a day means eight times to get ready. If at all possible, don’t be in the home during the first two weeks of the listing. This is the most active time of the listing. Rebecca sold a home yesterday that had 84 showings. Imagine being in your 70s or 80s and getting up and disrupted 84 times. Showings can be booked from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m., and if each one is 30 minutes long, that is 26 possible showings per day. If you limit times when prospective buyers can visit, you’re narrowing the buyer pool, and discouraging buyers from coming in. Stay with family, visit the grandchildren, or have a respite stay at a senior community. They’re affordable, safe, clean, and have people their age. They’ll also experience what it’s like. Some communities will let you move in early and defer fees until your house is sold. Also, there are affordable pet-friendly, air B&Bs with no stairs where you can book an extended stay. If I offered you $20,000 to stay away for two weeks, would you take it? That’s how much more you could make, or more. When you’re not there, you’re maximizing availability and opportunity, keeping your home show-ready the whole time.
SASH Services (Sell a Senior Home) was founded in 2005 as a blend of real estate, senior care, and social work to provide seniors and their families with home-sale options that are not typical, that are designed around their needs. They provide specialized services that lift the selling burden off the senior homeowner and their family while maximizing what can be earned from the home. SASH serves most of western Washington in the Pacific Northwest. If you’re out of state, they can steer you to a qualified professional in your area. Find more at the SASH Services website or call 888-400-SASH.
