Traditionally, spring has been the best time to sell a home, but summer comes in a very close second. Although summer is a great time to sell your home and even though it’s a seller’s market right now, you still have to get some things right in order to get the best price for your house this summer. You can’t just rely on the season and market conditions to do the work for you. So here are 5 tips to help you get the best price for your Kauai house this summer.
1. Declutter and Depersonalize
As always, you need to do the basic, uninteresting things first to get the best price for your Kauai house this summer. So begin by decluttering and depersonalizing your home to gain a competitive edge over sellers who don’t take the time to do this.
When it comes to decluttering, you need to be pretty ruthless. Walk through the home and carefully evaluate what you can jettison and what you need to keep to live comfortably until you close. Those belongings cluttering your home that you can’t bear to part with you can move to a storage unit. Just keep in mind that too much stuff in a home is very offputting to potential buyers.
And depersonalizing may be even more important for getting the best price for your Kauai house this summer. The idea is to make your home a blank pallette so that buyers can imagine themselves living there and envision all their own belongings in place. The trick then is to get rid of anything and everything that imprints your personality on the home – family photos, weird knick-knacks, idiosyncratic art, bizarre colors, and so on.
2. Work on the Exterior and Curb Appeal
The next most important step you can take to get the best price for your house this summer is to make the exterior look as good as possible. It’s summertime after all, and the weather will allow buyers more time to examine the outside and curb appeal. And when the outside looks good and well maintained that will indicate to buyers the inside is attractive and well taken care of as well.
Curb appeal is always important, but it’s even more important during the summer. Here, then, are some of the tasks to see to . . .
- Mow and edge the lawn
- Water the lawn regularly
- Trim shrubs and bushes
- Water and put down new mulch in beds
- Touch up exterior paint where needed
- Paint or replace the front entry door
- Powerwash and seal the drive
- Perform needed maintenance on fences
3. Highlight Outdoor Living Space(s)
Similarly, because summer is when people want to be outside cooking and during fun things, you need to highlight your home’s outdoor living space(s). Buyers will be excited to know that there are some great spots outside the home to spend time. So selling your house this summer for more means showcasing and featuring these spaces so that buyers can envision spending time there.
If, for example, you have a large, beautiful deck, stage it and then point it out (emphasizing features and benefits) to buyers. Showcasing your amazing outdoor living space will go a long way toward enticing buyers and getting better offers.
4. Keep It Cool
And, of course, you want buyers to be comfortable when they come to view your home. So keeping it comfortably can also help you get the best price for your Kauai house this summer.
“With the sunshine . . . of summer also comes, depending on where you live, a fair amount of heat and humidity. It’s vitally important you keep your home as comfortable and inviting as possible for homebuyers that come over for a viewing. Often this means thinking about things from a homebuyer’s perspective. What would make you comfortable if you had been traipsing around town all day, in the heat, looking at properties?”
Here are a few things to keep in mind . . .
- Keep the air conditioning on. Don’t yield to the temptation to turn it off or up just to save money on utility bills.
- But don’t keep your home too cold, either. Some people don’t like a cold house, so try to find a middle ground where it’s not too warm, but not too cold either.
- Have some refreshments on hand. Having some cold refreshments on hand, such as soft drinks or iced tea, can serve to help buyers remain comfortable and more receptive.
5. Price to Sell
One of the most important things you can do to get the best price for your house this summer is to price it right. That doesn’t mean, though, pricing too high and thinking you can always come down later.
“Many folks selling a home in summer believe, and rightfully so, that summer is a great time to sell a home. With many more buyers than the available inventory can support, they reason that listing their property with a high starting price (and waiting for the negotiations to begin) is the best approach to selling a house.
“Unfortunately, this ignores one of the cardinal rules of real estate: the longer a property sits on the market, the more buyers begin to ‘wonder’ what’s wrong with it? Rightly or wrongly, buyers – and the agents that represent them- see listings that have been on the market for multiple months as flawed. The key is to price your home right, from the beginning.”
Use a Kauai Agent to Price Your House This Sumer
And how do you price your home right from the beginning? The best way is to work with an experienced Kauai agent. Your agent can perform a comparative market analysis to determine market value and to price your home in line with similar homes in the market – which is the best way to get the best price. So if you want to get the best price for your Kauai house this summer, be sure to contact us today at 808-634-4518.