Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
Preparation is Power – Step 2 of Selling Your Longtime Home
22 Plays3 months ago
Welcome to Part 2 of our four-part series, How to Sell Your Longtime Home for Top Dollar with Ease. In this solo episode, Erin dives deep into the importance of preparation—and why this crucial step can make or break your sale.
From first impressions to strategic updates, Erin shares how even small investments in preparing your home can result in significantly higher offers, smoother showings, and a better overall experience for everyone involved. Whether you have a move-in ready gem or a legacy fixer, this episode will help you see your home through a buyer's eyes—and make empowered, profitable decisions.
🏠 Erin also walks you through four common home types:
- Move-In Ready Gem
- Well-Loved Haven
- Time-Worn Treasure
- Legacy Fixer
You’ll learn which updates matter most, how to protect your equity, and how Dovetail’s proven method ensures your interests stay at the center of every decision.
✨ Want to go deeper?
Watch our free e-webinar:
👉 www.dovetailcompanies.com/webinar
📞 Need support from a team that gets it?
Visit www.dovetailcompanies.com, email info@dovetailcompanies.com, or call us at 617-227-1600.
We’re here to help you navigate this next chapter with clarity, compassion, and confidence.
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to 'Engaging Aging' and Home Selling Series
00:00:00
Speaker
Welcome to Engaging Aging. I'm Erin DeCarlo. And I'm Lauren Watts. We believe life gets richer with age, and we're here to prove it. We bring you real conversations about aging well, living fully, and navigating this journey with confidence.
00:00:15
Speaker
So let's dive in, because aging isn't something to endure, it's something to embrace.
00:00:23
Speaker
Welcome to our four part series, how to sell your long time home for a top dollar with ease. Today in this episode, we are talking about step two, which is all about preparation.
00:00:37
Speaker
Preparing your home before you list and sell it is such an integral part of this process to ensure that top dollar sale. And if you've listened to episode one in this series where we talked about your plan,
00:00:50
Speaker
your timeline, and your budget, this episode will all be doable. The information that we give you here today and and will be possible based on that previous plan and considerations that you made.
Importance of Home Preparation for Sale
00:01:02
Speaker
So let's dive in.
00:01:04
Speaker
Why do preparations matter? Like, why is it such a big deal in our kind of proof and simple process here that preparing your home before you list and sell is somewhat um a strong recommendation in our professional opinion?
00:01:19
Speaker
And it's for multiple reasons. I will start with this one. First impressions are everything. We have, they say on average, a buyer sees your home online first and on average, they spend just three seconds listed looking at your listing before swiping or scrolling on to the next.
00:01:40
Speaker
So in order to put that best foot forward right out of the gate, it makes sense to have a well-prepared home that is clean and uncluttered and welcoming because it makes it easier for buyers to envision themselves living there.
00:01:56
Speaker
So the first is first impression. When you have a well-prepared home, that first impression is everything. You have one time to make a lasting great first impression. The second is that you get to highlight your home's best features.
00:02:11
Speaker
So strategic preparations, maybe it's a fresh coat of paint or updated lighting or thoughtful staging. We get to guide the buyer's attention to the best parts of your home.
00:02:24
Speaker
So whether it's the natural light in your home or a spacious room or we're here in New England, we have these beautiful, charming features of old New England homes. Maybe it's the detailed woodworking, whatever it may be.
00:02:38
Speaker
Preparation allows for us to showcase and highlight those best parts of your home. The other reason is good preparation really reduces buyers' hesitation.
00:02:51
Speaker
So if a home appears to be neglected or just unfinished in certain areas, it may bring up some red flags. They may assume that if small things aren't attended to in your home, then maybe there's some bigger stuff behind the scenes that they they need to be worried about.
00:03:07
Speaker
So sometimes taking care of those minor repairs or cosmetic updates really removes buyer hesitation. They don't have doubt. And when these buyers have confidence in coming to see your home, that changes everything when it comes to making an offer and things getting competitive.
Benefits of Well-Prepared Homes
00:03:24
Speaker
And when you do the right preparations for you you, really maximize your market value or your listing price. And that will be in the next episode where we talk talk all about pricing, how to list the list price, the sale price.
00:03:40
Speaker
But this is a way to really increase your value, which What we know for sure is that well-prepared homes, not only do they bring more interested buyers, you'll have more showings that will lead to potentially multiple offers and that's what drives the price up.
00:03:59
Speaker
So even some small modest investments in the preparation of your home can lead to really significant returns. Buyers are always willing to pay more for a home that feels move-in ready.
00:04:12
Speaker
In our e-webinar, How to List Your Longtime Home for Top Dollar with Ease, we do a much deeper dive into this, but we wanted to go over it a little bit today.
00:04:23
Speaker
There are statistics around these numbers of what increases value and multiple offer scenarios for buyers, and preparation is the number one factor. You really can, when your home is prepared well, you create a smoother selling experience for the professional, the listing agent that you're working with, and for yourself.
00:04:44
Speaker
It really helps you. When you have a clean and organized home, It's easier to show. You're not trying to run around and hide things in closets or ah throw things under the counters when people are coming.
00:04:56
Speaker
It's clean. It's organized. You can have wonderful photography and videography. This all happens with much more ease throughout the process. And negotiations end up being much easier because you're less likely to be caught off guard by repair requests and buyers concerns because you addressed them all up front.
00:05:19
Speaker
The bottom line here, honestly, is that preparation is power. It really gives you control over how your home is presented, but also how it's perceived by buyers and how it's going to
Respecting Homeowner's Memories and Unique Strategies
00:05:31
Speaker
perform on the market.
00:05:32
Speaker
So what we'd like to talk to you about today is depending on the style of your home, um there's different preparations that we would recommend and sometimes no preparations.
00:05:45
Speaker
So every home is so unique, just like every person is so unique. And before we get into talking about the different types of home styles that clients may have and the best strategy to support those home styles, I do want to say this.
00:06:00
Speaker
You and your home are obviously so much more than just the bricks and the mortar of your house. These homes are clients' homes, which we have such an honor and privilege of coming into your home, hearing the stories behind the walls of your home,
00:06:17
Speaker
this I want to be sensitive with this because it's not to say that your home is better or worse than another style home, but it's to pay homage to the home that you've put so many years of memories and potentially sweat equity into it.
00:06:32
Speaker
We want you to think clearly about what is the best scenario for you to gain all of that equity back in your own pocket. I think sometimes, I don't think, I know that sometimes because of overwhelm and stress, older adults may sell their homes far less than they could have because they feel pressured, whether it's the crisis in their life or the advice they're getting from a family or a professional.
00:06:58
Speaker
They rush through this process. They're embarrassed about the condition of their home and they sell it quick for cash. I mean, we've all heard the commercials out there. of um don't worry about it, we'll so give you cash now for your home.
00:07:12
Speaker
Even with homes, and we'll talk about that more in this episode, even with homes that need a lot of work, that have a lot of disrepair, there is still, we have a proven strategy to ensure your home sells for top dollar and that your fiduciary needs are at the center of all of this, not the buyers.
Pitfalls of Quick Cash Sales
00:07:33
Speaker
Most of those scenarios where an agent says, oh, I have a cash buyer who will buy your home, your interests are not forefront. Potentially the commission for the agent or the flip opportunity for that buyer, their needs are at the front front of the process. So we're going to talk about the four different types of your home and just take this with a grain of salt because you remain at the center of all decision-making throughout this process.
00:07:59
Speaker
So just because we're recommending certain preparations in general today, you have the right to say that doesn't work for me. Whether it's financially or timeline or just you don't agree to the recommendation, that's okay.
00:08:13
Speaker
Your autonomy is everything. And that's what we've built this business and this process around.
Market Appeal of 'Move-in Ready' and Well-Maintained Homes
00:08:18
Speaker
So here we go. ah The first type of home style is the move-in ready gem.
00:08:24
Speaker
This is a home, if your home is a move-in ready gem, it's been recently updated. It feels fresh and clean and ready for the market. The move-in ready gem is a buyer's dream.
00:08:38
Speaker
um There's maybe modern finishes, neutral decor, and no major repairs or renovations are needed for this. So buyers can envision themselves diving right in and moving right in and making it their own.
00:08:51
Speaker
Um, what we also know about buyer, uh, psychology is that they would rather a move in ready home because it just eases the burden. We know that moving and buying and selling is one of the most stressful times in someone's life. And so just not having to think about doing all of the additional things goes a long way.
00:09:13
Speaker
Buyers, not only want to, but is sometimes easier for them to roll in their financing, meaning they may not have $20,000, $30,000, $40,000 in liquid cash to do the renovations themselves, but they will gladly pay more and have that $20,000, $30,000, $40,000 just in an increased total mortgage amount So if you are able to, um we have an entire move first, sell later um episode. That is our proven process on how to do all of this with ease.
00:09:47
Speaker
And so we will get into that and explain that. That's also in the e-webinar. But that's a big point to mention here is that we're able to make ah these recommendations for improvements and preparations for our clients because they're not living in their homes while these preparations are happening.
00:10:05
Speaker
They're finding out where they're going. They're moving and settling into their new space. And then we're preparing the home for the market. So keep that in the back of your mind as we go through this process.
00:10:16
Speaker
So that was the move-in ready gem. And if you have one of those, there's still some small things like a deep clean, maybe a touch of paint here and there. But those are um usually the fastest and highest price price point properties.
00:10:31
Speaker
The second is the well-loved haven. These are the homes that um you can tell have been cherished and well-maintained over the years, but there may need to be some updates. Like maybe the home is structurally sound and you can tell that it's been cared for, but there's outdated finishes um like maybe brass hardware or um outdated lighting fixtures.
00:10:54
Speaker
You can tell usually these homes have been owned by a very long time for the same homeowner and they take care of all the major systems. So there may be a furnace that's been replaced, a new roof, new windows.
00:11:09
Speaker
So there may be a little bit of things that are outdated aesthetically, interior, um but on the exterior, major things have been addressed. this people Buyers also love this type of property because any major investments or issues have been handled and it's just minor cosmetic repairs and preparations that just need to happen.
Challenges with Homes Needing Updates or Renovations
00:11:30
Speaker
The third type of home, if you did not identify with those first two, the third is what we refer to as the time-worn treasure. This is a home that is so full of character and you can feel the beautiful history in the home, but there's definitely some noticeable updates.
00:11:49
Speaker
So maybe there needs to be new siding, new windows, new roof, or um you may need a more modern kitchen or a bathroom. The systems in these types of homes, like the HVAC or the furnace, um may need some updating as well.
00:12:05
Speaker
So the time-worn treasure, buyers can see the potential, but they're willing to do some heavy lifting on upgrades and um preparations aesthetically.
00:12:17
Speaker
And sometimes that leads to more buyer concern because they just know that there's a larger financial investment. And if they notice that it needs a new furnace, then they're more likely to look at the roof.
00:12:29
Speaker
It just brings up more can of worms items to address. And then the fourth type of home is what we refer to as the legacy fixer. This is in need of full transformation. um This is a wonderful home for builders and investors.
00:12:46
Speaker
And there are a handful of ambitious buyers out there that just love the thrill of full renovation properties. So um the Legacy Fixer is in need of major renovations. Maybe it's what's referred to as a teardown.
00:13:02
Speaker
um There are systems that are not functional, things that don't lay out, um like the layout doesn't work well. This is where you see the clause of being sold in as is condition. But what I have to tell you about the legacy fixer, there is a full method for you to sell your home for top dollar to builders and investors that again, keeps you at the center of the equation and make sure that you receive top dollar sale.
00:13:28
Speaker
So if you find yourself being a legacy fixer, you're not alone. You're in good company for many different reasons. People's homes end up in disrepair. um But please don't take the easy, quote unquote, easy way out because there's still an easy way to prepare your home.
00:13:46
Speaker
um or market your home. Keep it as is, but market your home strategically to your buyer pool of builders, investors, and ambitious buyers. So here's why preparation matters. Your home sells faster for much more money and with much more ease when you and your belongings are not there and it's
Conclusion and Social Media Engagement
00:14:07
Speaker
prepared well. So depending on the type of home, the preparations that matter for that buyer pool, when that is done,
00:14:14
Speaker
And we can increase first impression through quality photography, videography, floor plan design. The process just goes so much smoother.
00:14:26
Speaker
So this was stage two in our four-part series. um If you would like more information, check the show notes below. The full proven method is deeply explained in our complimentary e-webinar, How to Sell Your Long-Time Home for a Top Dollar with Ease.
00:14:43
Speaker
So we look forward to seeing you there. And let us know. I'd love to hear from you on social media at Dovetail Companies. What style home is your home? And what type of preparations do you think would go a really long way to ensure you can sell your home for top dollar?
00:14:59
Speaker
Let's keep the conversation going. Thanks for joining me today. Thank you for joining us today. We love having these conversations and we hope they sparked something for you too. If you enjoyed this episode, please like comment and share it with your community because together we can change the way the world sees aging.
00:15:18
Speaker
You can find us at dovetailcompanies.com or on any of our social media channels at dovetail companies. And just a quick note, the opinions shared in this podcast are those of our guests and do not necessarily reflect the views of Engaging Aging dovetail companies or our team.
00:15:35
Speaker
So until we see you next time, keep engaging with aging.