So You Want To Renovate Before Selling? Better Ask Your Realtor First.
A common scenario unfolds like so. Someone makes the difficult decision to sell their home. They schedule a consultation with a real estate agent and show them around the property. They tell the real estate agent all about the various improvements they made recently; new patterns in the kitchen decor, fresh coat of pastels in the guest room, cute French windows by the front door, etc. All these improvements are tangible because it can be added on to the asking price of the house – right?
Well in most cases, many of these improvements are often in the wrong direction.
Often times, the taste of homeowner is special and deviates from the preferences of the mass-market buyers in the San Francisco Bay Area. There is nothing wrong with having a personalized preference – after all the San Francisco Bay Area is home to over 7 million people. Someone out there is bound to have similar taste.
However, before you proceed with costly renovations please reevaluate your goals. If your priority is to sell your home at high price within a reasonable time frame you might encounter some problems. The graph below visually shows a normal distribution of the typical housing market:
The horizontal axis of the figure above represents the uniqueness of the property, while the vertical axis represents appeal to the general market. Quirky properties with bright colors and unconventional features might fall towards the ends of the spectrum, while typical “normal” (so to speak) houses fall in the middle. Just how like almost everyone likes vanilla ice cream, the goal is to package the house in a flavor similar to vanilla – where it appeals to a wide range of potential buyers.
Back to our goal to sell the house at a high price in reasonable time range. The best approach in this case is to adjust the style, decorations, and state of the house to a general audience. As a result, we are maximizing the amount of potential buyers that may be interested in competing for a bid.
With that being said, another common problem is that people try to overly rush the process of selling their house. Understanding the current preferences of the market, in terms of decoration and staging, is an integral component of ensuring your house gets sold at a competitive price.
So now comes the question: should we re-decorate to meet the public’s preferences or just sell as is and save the cost/ hassle or renovating?
The best advice I can give is to first consult a real estate agent. They will be able to give you more personalized advice because every home is different and special!
By the way, I’m a real estate agent.
(image from pixabay)
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What’s this Blog for?
Before I started my career as a real estate agent, I found it quite difficult to find informative articles or websites that provided accurate information catered towards selling and buying houses in the San Francisco Bay Area. Yes, there are some out there, but those are not catered specifically towards the Bay Area. Sometimes, even tips and facts regarded as common knowledge aren’t applicable and outdated from a Bay Area perspective. My original intention of starting this blog, was to help shed some light on the seemingly inscrutable real estate market. As a real estate agent who has been practicing for several years, I wanted to provide accurate and relevant information to those who might be interested in buying or selling a home.
If you’re curious and want to learn more about buying and selling in the San Francisco Bay Area, then this website might be a good starting point to gain some insight.
Who Am I?
My name is Chiuho Lin. I first found my calling for real estate in 2016, while I was looking for a new home in the San Francisco Bay Area. I found myself inexplicably drawn to this profession and after meeting over one hundred real estate professionals, I made the decision to become a real estate agent myself. To me, being a real estate agent is rewarding not only because I love meeting new people, but also because I have the privilege of helping them start their new chapter and make their vision a reality.
What Is My Promise?
If you are interested in selling, then the process would start from an initial consultation, to price assessments, market analysis, repair advice, time-to-market recommendations, staging assessment, style selection, housing listings, posters, social media promotion, marketing media selection, follow-up on house delivery. I will be active and present in the entire process to make sure everything goes smoothly.
If you are interested in buying a house, again as an agent I can promise you that I will be present in all stages of the buying process. This includes everything from consultations to address all your concerns, investigating real estate to find a home that suits all your needs, visiting the houses, providing insights on the neighborhood, assessing the current conditions of the homes that may require additional attention, read various reports filled with technical jargon, to helping you understand contracts. I ensure quality care and commitment in the entire process from start to finish.
As a professional, I take pride in my work ethic and ensure the utmost care and consideration while working with all my clients. I’d like to consider myself a trusted advisor to ensure a phenomenal experience throughout your buying/selling process. With that being said, if you ever need a professional consultation or assistance with anything – for example, gardening/landscaping, property manager property lawyer, paint master, decorator, roof repair master, loan broker, registration accountant – feel free to reach out. I am genuinely passionate about what I do and hope that I can help share my knowledge with you all.
Chiuho Lin DRE#02007082
Keller Williams Thrive DRE#02177478
