Should your home be show ready before you get an evaluation?
It is best to have a realtor do an evaluation on your home as soon as you are considering selling. Here are the main reasons why:
- A realtor can look beyond clutter and give you a reasonable value. This may give you an idea whether it is financial feasible to move at this time. Some people spend tons of time preparing their home for an evaluation only to decide not to sell.
- They will be able to give you suggestions on what will improve the value of your home the most. Certain renovations can actually lower the value of the home like removing bedrooms and bathrooms. Therefore it is always a good idea to talk to a realtor before doing any renovations.
- A realtor will be able to help you prioritize what work is important to do versus nice to do.
- If you are painting, they will be able to tell you what colours appeal best to today’s buyers. Realtors go through many homes, therefore, we have a pretty good idea of which colours look good and appeal to the masses.
- They can also let you know all the information to collect prior to making the decision to list like penalties for breaking a mortgage or rental contract.
- Most realtors have a network of tradespeople that can help you with work that needs to be done. Remember: painting and renovation only raise the value of the home if they are done correctly.
- Realtors can talk to you about timing the market. If the market is very hot you might be better to list right away vs spending money on your house and listing in a slower market. Alternatively, you might want hold off an wait for the market to pick up.
Therefore it is more important to have an evaluation as soon as possible rather then having your home show ready.
