I know. I know. Denver is so hot right now, you’d practically be drowning in equity if you sold. That is a beautiful dream and I do like that you’ve decorated it with foreign vacations and brand new Audis, but while selling your home in this market is easy, it’s not totally effortless.
A note here: whether you decide to work with us or different real estate agents, your agent does work for you- and they get paid in the thousands to help sell your home, so you should expect that they set you up for success and counsel you on how to best sell your house even in this market.
Here are six tips to selling your home in Denver:
Set a realistic price. Your house is probably worth a lot, but at the end of the day, it’s only worth what someone else will pay for it, and there are consequences to an unrealistic MLS listing. Setting your price too high is one of the biggest mistakes sellers make when selling their home. If your property sits on the MLS for weeks because of a too-high price, it may become stigmatized. otential buyers tat wonder what’s going on with your house that it’s just sitting there in this market and that can be a hard thing to shake. To avoid that stigma, we recommend evaluating like properties in your location that have recently sold, comparing their pictures/updates/amenities and setting a realistic price.
Pay for professional photos. Take them at least as seriously as you would take your dating profile photos, which is to say your profile photo wouldn’t include you eating chicken wings in bed on a Friday night in the dark because hopefully that’s not your best self. Likewise, a few dark iPhone photos that only show the downstairs of your two bedroom condo and zero photos of your amazing walk-in closet are not your home’s best self. Using poor photos is probably the second biggest mistake sellers make when selling their home. We strongly recommend having professional photos taken, which are relatively inexpensive and are a minimal marketing cost for a significant transaction.
Sell the experience, not just the amenities. Does your place have a pool, a roof deck, parking, covered parking, heated parking, a walk in closet, amazing views, a basement with a dedicated entrance? All these things are worth something- so they need to be highlighted in your listing in both text and photos. But your agent should also sell the experience of living in a space. What kind of life will the buyers have in this home? How will it make them feel? These are just as important as the amenities.
Choose renovations wisely. Be smart about them because not all of them will pay off (for instance, you likely will get 66% of what you put into a kitchen remodel when it’s time to sell.) Painting and flooring tends to have the highest return on your home and both are relatively inexpensive.
Extricate Yourself. There’s a couple levels to this one.
Cleaning and clutter. For photos and showings, your place should be clean and tidy and not project to the world that someone does not do their dishes after they eat and loves mustard as evidenced by the terrifying sink mess.
Furniture. Think about removing half of your furniture. Houses sell best when it’s hard to tell someone else lives there. Why? It lets the people looking imagine their life there (the one with the Audis and the trips to France) and not your life there (abusing mustard and falling asleep again to American Idol reruns.)
Leave. Home buyers have an easier time asking questions about the house and imagining themselves living there if you are gone. You should not only leave for open houses and showings, but you should also remove photos of yourself from around the home.
Don’t list on a holiday. Holidays are not always the best days to list. In fact, there can be a depression in turn out around here because people are in the mountains, hosting friends and family or are out of town, so be mindful of the timing of your listing.
Alright, if you’ve made it this far, you’re a hero with an amazing attention span! Good luck selling your home, and if you have questions, feel free to ask us. We love talking about this stuff and believe in good karma, so feel free to reach out about anything.