TOP 5 SPENDS THAT HELP SELLERS GET “TOP DOLLAR” FOR THEIR HOME

Erica Hobby
Sep 5, 2018 · 5 min read

Whenever we sit down with a seller to discuss listing their home, we recommend a few key items they should consider doing. Based on our experience these will help the home sell quickly and help us achieve our goal of getting top dollar for their home.

Of course not every home needs ALL of these. And sometimes there isn’t time, (like when our clients find a new home out of the blue and have to quickly list and sell the one they are leaving). But if time permits, funds are available, and the seller is willing…we find bringing in our team of contractors and professionals, pays off- BIG!

So what are the top 5 spends we recommend:

#1 PAINT

Time, kiddos, animals, and life in general take a toll on a paint job. Especially baseboards, doors, and trim. Most homes can benefit from a fresh coat of interior paint.

Our team of painters work quickly and can transform a room or entire home in just a few days. New paint provides a beautiful blank canvas for our awesome stager to work her magic.

Trendy color? We are in LOVE with this go-to “greige” Pale Oak by Benjamin Moore. It works well with most furniture and decor, and most importantly helps lighten and brighten the home. It really pops against white trim such as Swiss Coffee by Kelly Moore and gives a fresh feel to any room needing a quick lift.

#2 CARPET

Carpet is another one of those things that takes a real beating, while we are all busy leading our normal messy lives. But when it comes time to sell, freshening up our floors does work wonders.

If carpet is “newish,” sometimes a good steam clean does the job- we have someone we can recommend.

Sometimes it’s time to replace- we also have someone we can recommend.

Color/pattern/etc. is such a personal choice for many homeowners. You don’t want to over spend on something too taste specific. The idea is to go for a clean blank slate for our stager to work with. It is important that potential buyers see the home as move-in-ready. Our installers can give us their current recommendations as to trends or the best carpet for the replacement.

We know carpet can be expensive and inconvenient if the home is not vacant. But it’s well worth exploring if budgets permit.

#3 YARD

Again, there is quite a spectrum of what we do in the front and back yard to prepare a home for sale. Most every home gets a new round of bark (buyers are still preferring the black bark).

We recommend turning up the water schedule several weeks prior to listing (don’t hate me for saying this, I’m the same person who collects shower water in buckets to water my flowers during the summer- but gotta do what ya gotta do to sell a house :)

Sometimes sections of the yard, or even the entire yard needs new sod or plants. Again- we have someone to help! Our landscaper and his crew are reasonable and fast. They have worked with us for 10 + years and know exactly what it takes to get a yard looking great and for a great price!

#4 STAGING

We all have the way we live- coffee pots out, gym equipment out, real life out. It’s what makes our homes cozy and functional. And then we start to prepare to move, organize and pack and it actually gets WORSE before it starts to get better. That’s normal!

Our stager comes in and makes recommendations.

She can either rock a lot of what you already have, add to it, swap some things out, or add what I like to call “pixie dust.”

OR she comes in, makes recommendations to remove items (get a POD, put it in the garage, whatever), and stages the whole home from top to bottom. We counsel our sellers through the advantages of each approach and work together to come up with the best solution.

Staging has become the norm thanks to HGTV. Buyers are savvy, they want that “look” they are seeing everywhere- even if it’s not a realistic way we all live. Even if their own stuff at home looks more like the before picture, they see themselves living in the after-picture. And the goal is to get as many buyers as possible to feel this could be their home, make an offer, and get “top dollar”.

#5 PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHY

Gone are the days where realtors take their own photos with their SLR camera. Professional photography is a MUST!

Everything is about online exposure for the property through the MLS and the websites that pull from it, such as Zillow, Redfin, Trulia etc. AND of course the power of social media. If pictures are poor quality or boring, with no wow factor, buyers simply quit clicking and move on.

We have been using a top notch team out of SF for the past several years. They are full service from the photography, to the custom websites, and brochures. Every time we get the images back our sellers are shocked. I often hear “wish I’d done all of this sooner.” I LOVE it when that happens.


This formula works! We don’t always have control of the overall real estate market conditions and economy, or the time of year we have to list, or how many buyers are out there at any given time. We do have a lot of control over the professional manner in which we prep the home for sale and the full court marketing push we do.

The goal is always the same- get as many buyers as possible in the door and wanting to make an offer.

We know our home owners may have their own trusted professionals we can work with, but we are also proud to partner with an awesome team of painters, contractors, stagers, photographers who help make this happen! Just ask us how we can help!

Erica Hobby

Written by

Residential real estate professional. Independent brokerage owner/realtor since 2007. Lifelong Bay Area residents. Lover of all things San Ramon Valley!

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