The Phoenix real estate market has cooled down from its 2021 highs. That market was extremely skewed towards sellers meaning in many circumstances homeowners were getting top value for their home with very little need to fix the place up. Many Valley Homes had multiple offers with zero seller concessions. Some buyers even waived inspection and appraisal in order to lock in a home. The current market is cooler and a lot more balanced towards accommodating both buyer and seller needs almost equally. Low inventory has kept prices up for sellers, but higher interest rates mean we have fewer buyers competing for the same properties. This balance, slightly in favor of sellers, means that Sellers can’t just throw their home on the market and expect multiple offers. To sell your home quickly in the current market with multiple offers you need to make sure your home makes the buyer say “Wow!” and be at exactly the right price out of the gate. This can mean putting effort into improving your home before putting it on the market. Here are a few wow factors that sell a home and ones that buyers are looking for in the current market.
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Consistency is key
A consistent home is a home that sells. This means the quality of the home is equal throughout the home. If you do decide to make improvements to the home make sure you make improvements to the entire home. If you remodel the kitchen you might also want to consider remodeling the bathrooms before you sell. Neglecting to improve the entirety of your home will probably not increase your home value. The remodeled part of your home is the expectation the buyer is going to have throughout the rest of the space. If one part of your home is newly remodeled and other parts are not it is going to make those parts of the home look old and outdated. Your buyer will often lose focus on the great work you’ve done. A partially remodelled home means the buyer may easily believe they have to invest more money to remodel the rest of the space and that might prevent them from buying. Make every part of the home look consistently beautiful if you can.
Stage your home
Don’t put an empty home on the market. If you have a good realtor they will invest in staging your home before putting it on the market. Sellers who don’t stage their homes very often take a hit, or stay on market longer, unless the market is extremely hot. Hire someone to stage your home so it looks perfect for prospective buyers. A good realtor will want you to stage your home in even the hottest seller’s market because a good realtor knows it helps increase the value of your home. Staging is important because it is hard for many home buyers to imagine the possibility of empty rooms in a space. Staging shows the buyer what a home could be in the most ideal setting. Staging gives the space a story. It tells you what types of furniture can fit in the home and it shows the buyer you are putting in effort to make your home look the best. Stage your home and you will see the benefits in the final sale price.
Post good listing photos
Selling your home for optimal value means always putting your best foot forward and your listing photos are your first opportunity to make a great impression. Listing photos are the first things any prospective buyer is going to see while searching for a home online. If your photos look incredible and show the beauty in every part of your home more people will inquire about buying your home. I would recommend hiring a professional photographer to do listing photos and I would recommend having a 3D tour available for the property. Listing photos is a buyer’s first impression of your home and everyone only gets one first impression. Don’t forget to ask for a video too. It’s a great way to get more eyes on your home.
Remodel work should focus on the kitchen and bathrooms
If you choose to remodel, the general rule is to put the most focus on the projects that build home desirability the most. The kitchen, and primary bathroom (and its walk-in closet if you have one), are hands down the projects that increase home salability the most. You spend a lot of time in your kitchen and 1/3 of your life in the master bedroom. The first thing you wake up to is it’s bathroom, it can change your day! So investing the most money in those spaces makes sense. A good remodel will make your kitchen and bathroom functional and beautiful. Invest your home improvement money in spaces that are most important to the people most likely to purchase your home. Your Realtor will advise you who that audience is.
The days of putting any house on the market and getting multiple offers are gone. Today’s market requires sellers to put in some effort to sell their homes. Create the wow factors that make people want to buy your home. A seller that either improves their home, stages, takes good listing photos, and most importantly prices and markets their home correctly, will still get multiple offers in the current real estate market.
Author: David Newcombe is a Co-Founder and Associate Broker of Launch Powered by Compass, a premier luxury real estate firm in Scottsdale Arizona. For more information contact Launch Powered by Compass online.
