Selling Your Own Home pt 3: Hire Some Professionals

Steve Benson
Aug 28, 2017 · 3 min read

Now that you’ve Decluttered like a Boss and Cleaned your filthy house it’s time to get some professional help. And no, this isn’t the part where I tell you that you should hire a Realtor. This post is about getting your home to the next level using people that do this everyday. You should look up, vet and engage the services of Stagers, Real Estate Photographers, Painters and inspectors. These are the people who can make your home the #1 product on the market.

Stagers are key to give your home that model home look, a blank canvas that potential Buyers can paint their own picture on and imagine themselves living there. A stager will come in and give you recommendations on how to make this happen. These may include painting, changing curtains, adding or subtracting artwork, moving furniture and adding accent pieces to improve the aesthetic of a room. As with most services there are different tiers of service a Stager will provide. These typically include consultation where you will receive a list to do, Staging where they will make the changes for you and add some items, and finally the full stage where they will rent the furniture and give your home a full makeover. I have seen each of these work in the past.

Real Estate Photographers are essential to selling your own home. While your iPhone is able to take amazing pictures you are likely a garbage photographer. The advantage that Photographers who specialize in real estate have is that they know what shots work and how to maximize the rooms. Often times the pictures are what bring someone to the home so if you have 3 dimly light pictures of a sink your house will get zero showings.

If the stager doesn’t tell you to paint it means that you have a neutral (likely grey) paint throughout your house. This is great but it may be a good idea to go back and do some touchups on the walls and trim. If you are part of the majority and decided to show your creativity by painting your dining room purple and living room yellow with a blue accent wall, you need to paint that shit. Choose a light grey and get to work, or hire a painter that will do a better job and fix the terrible job you did with the yellow.

Finding a great inspector can save you money and hassle when it comes to negotiation. I will usually pay for a pre listing home inspection so that I know what is wrong with the house and either fix it or disclose it up front. This helps to take away a buyers ability to renegotiate for these issues after their inspection.

These steps will cost you between $500-$5000 depending on your situation and location but can have a drastic effect on how much goes into your pocket at the end of the sale. So if you’re selling your own home don’t be cheap with professional because you get what you pay for.

Share this with someone who is looking to sell their home, these steps can make you thousands more on a sale.

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Steve Benson
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