Coaching Your House Through the Off-Season
By Mark Talis |
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Real estate has an off-season and it's right around the corner. The market is in the fourth quarter of the championship game and after the whistle is blown, properties are going to shuffle back to the locker room, towel off, ice their wounds, and wait for next spring.
Mark Talis
Once we hit Thanksgiving, things tend to slow down a bit. Maybe it's the tryptophan in the turkey, or maybe it's the weekly holiday parties and people are too drunk to look at houses. Whatever the case may be, the off-season is the best time to prepare for the selling season. You've got a couple of months - plenty of time to get your house together.
As I've said all year, competition is fierce. You have to set your home apart from the rest and if you want to receive top-dollar for your property, you need a top dollar look - but you don't have to spend mega bucks to get there. There are easy fixes: start with a fresh coat of paint (have your friends over and for the price of pizza and beer, you get a new paint job). Cost: $300-$500, depending on how much they drink. Time to get some new carpet? Your dirty, stained, raggedy-ass carpet needs to go. Again, nothing crazy here: just make it a neutral color. I've used America's Floor Source and they did three rooms and a hallway for around $1,000 - oh, and we went into contract six days after it was installed. (whoop-whoop!)
If you have a few extra bucks and are willing to really make a change, focus on the kitchen and master bathroom. These are the most important rooms in your home, and if they look good, your house will have a leg up on the competition. New appliances make a huge difference. Stainless steel is the way to go and you can get a reasonable price on a standard stainless package. Cost: around $2,500. You don't need to put in the $3,000 stove, because Wolfgang Puck is not going to be cooking in your kitchen. Countertops = granite, period. Keep it simple; buy something in stock, shop around, and you can get granite for most kitchens for $2,000-3,000.
Excuse me while I go to the bathroom. Say yes to a new toilet, yes to the new vanity, yes to the new tile, yes to the new fixtures (towel bar, faucet, shower head). Take a look at the before and after pictures, the bathroom went from 'What the F?' to 'WOW!' That's what you want - you need that 'WOW' factor. I know of a house located on Jaeger Street in German Village that is just on the market. They knew that they needed some WOW and the investment in the bath will definitely pay off. Cost: approximately $7,000. The upgrade in the bath went from 1982 (um, excuse me, but what exactly goes on in here?) to 2009 (I'm having a party in my shower and you're all invited - because it's sweet). Use the off-season wisely and you can start off next season with a big advantage over the competition.
I will be taking a few months off from my column to enjoy my own off-season (watch some football, see if I can eat myself up to 250 lbs, catch up on Real and Chance). I'm looking forward to 2010, thinking positive thoughts for the real estate market and writing again for 614. They promise to teach me about run on sentences next year ... how exciting.
Mark Talis
Gledhill Robbins & Talis Group
Real Living HER
730 S High St.
www.marktalis.com
(614) 554-6355
Originally Published: October 1, 2009
