Today we have a special guest post on selling an Estate Home from Skelly Agency, a local Austin real estate firm.
If you find yourself dealing with the enormous task of selling a deceased loved one’s estate home, the key is to not get overwhelmed along the way. Take simple steps and involve qualified professionals who can relieve your burden of preparing and selling an estate property. You might live in a different city or state from the estate you need to sell or perhaps the real property of the estate is in need of repair & cleaning prior to getting listed on the market. What should you do? Below are some steps that will help you simplify the process of selling an estate home.
Step One – Clean Out the Clutter:
This is the hardest step for many people because it means taking down memories, cozy corner nooks, family photos and children’s artwork. Years of accumulated storage, collections and knick-knacks are often what take the most time to organize and clean out prior to putting an estate home on the market. If you live a distance away, you may not have multiple days or weekends to work on decluttering an estate home. There are professional services that will clean out and sell the contents of the home for you. Your payment to them is a percentage of the sales price of the goods inside the home. A good realtor should be to recommend a service of this nature in your designated area. If needed, you can store these items in the garage, or a good Realtor® can also recommend a reputable mover and month-to-month storage facility if you need to store some items off site.
Step Two – Assess the Situation:
It is important to assess the house and what condition it is in. In addition to looking at the overall condition of the finishes and appliances, also pay special attention to these particular areas: the HVAC system, the roof, the fencing, the plumbing, and the foundation. A Realtor can get you in touch with a local professional inspector that can help assess the condition of the house for you and send you the results. Once you have a list of items that need repairing/addressing, move onto step three.
Step Three – Do a Walk Through:
Bring your Realtor and their recommended contractor to your home at the same time. Do a walk through together to create the list of potential items that need fixing, including any deficient items from the inspection report. A contractor can estimate how much each item will cost, and a good Realtor will be able to tell you if that particular improvement will actually increase the value/sale price of the home. Although fixing up a home can be fun, try to concentrate on doing just the improvements that ultimately will increase the sales value of the home and cover the cost of the repairs you are making. Your goal is to gain money for the estate through this process, not to lose it.
Step Four – Stage the Home:
Once the home is fixed up and decluttered, it will still need to be staged for buyers. But you do not need to find a stager, your Realtor will have a recommendation. Remember, the goal is to allow the buyer to visualize the use of spaces. If the buyer cannot envision their own needs being met in the house, it will not sell. We recommend staging the main common areas and principal bedroom. Once the home is staged, now you are ready to put the home on the market!
The simplicity of the above selling process relies on finding a qualified Realtor. Make sure you choose a Realtor who is well connected with a team of professionals, knows and has worked with a reputable general contractor, mover, stager, and is communicative throughout each step of the process.
Finding a real estate agency with make-ready services is also a bonus. Skelly Agency offers a make-ready service which includes moving, interior and exterior paint, carpet & hardwood replacement, new tile, new countertops, roof repair, electrical items, etc. Sit back as our team will manage & execute your make ready services. If you are selling an estate home in central Texas, Skelly Agency has the services available to prepare your estate for maximum sales value in the market.
