Since so many people start their home search on the internet, it’s critical that you work with real estate agents who are internet-savvy and who can make sure your home stands out. Very often, that includes having a professional photographer take photos to put online. When you prepare your house for photos, they work well as the biggest factor in motivating buyers to schedule a showing. To get the most from your exposure online, make sure you prepare your home to look its best.

If you’re adding your home to the list of Davie homes for sale, you can do many things to get your home ready to sell. You can check out our home seller guidelines to get more home selling tips. If you’re considering doing some renovations or updates, review what homebuyers really want before you make any major changes.

General Tips

When you prepare your house for photos, start with a general cleaning. Dust, vacuum, wash windows, and generally make sure your home sparkles. You may not realize it, but dust, smudges on the refrigerator, and water spots on a mirror in the bathroom will show in a photo.

Before the photographer arrives, complete this checklist:

• Turn on all overhead lights and lamps – if you find a burned out bulb, replace it
• Turn off your ceiling fans – you don’t want the photos marred by spinning fans
• Turn off all televisions and computer screens
• Open blinds and curtains – if you have horizontal blinds, tilt them slightly toward the ceiling to direct reflected light toward the ceiling
• Remove small rugs to make the flooring the star of the room
• If you have hooks for jackets or trays for boots and shoes, put them in a closet

Outside Your Home

People looking at shots of your home’s exterior should be able to focus on the house itself. Prepar your house for photos by removing anything that will distract their attention.

• Don’t leave any type of vehicles where they can get in the photos of your home’s exteriors, including cars, trucks, recreational vehicles, and even bicycles.
• Remove anything that isn’t part of the house or the landscaping, including trash cans, water hoses, toys, and pet waste.
• If you have a grill, take the cover off and clean it up to look inviting.
• Sweep walkways and decks.
• If your patio furniture cushions have seen better days, put them away.
• Make sure your pool looks clean and inviting.

Living Areas

You don’t want these rooms to look too sterile, but you want people to imagine themselves living there without a lot of clutter.

• Remove all newspapers, magazines, books and other things that aren’t strictly decorative.
• Simplify shelves by reducing the number of things that you display if you’re a collector.
• Straighten the couch and chair cushions, and fluff the pillows.
• If you have a home office, clear the desktop, even if you need to dump everything into a box for sorting later.

Kitchen

Again, you’re looking for a kitchen that looks organized and inviting.

• Clear the counters of appliances and gadgets; leave things that are decorative.
• Clear the refrigerator doors and sides; you love your children’s artwork, but to a buyer, a refrigerator full of notes and magnets just looks messy.
• Don’t leave dirty dishes in the sink and hide all the dishcloths and sponges.

Dining Room

After a thorough cleaning, you might want to set the dining room table with pretty dinnerware and napkins. At a minimum, add a centerpiece to give the room a homey feel. If you have a china cabinet, make sure everything visible is arranged neatly.

Bedrooms

Make sure everyone is up and out of the house before the photographer arrives. That may sound silly, but there have been bedroom photos with a suspicious lump in the bed.

• Make all the beds neatly with straight sides on spreads or comforters.
• Double check to make sure any clothes and shoes are safely hidden away in a closet.
• Remove clutter from bedside tables, and make sure the kids toys aren’t peeking out from under the bed in kids’ rooms.

Bathrooms

Bathrooms are important rooms in any house, so make sure yours aren’t overwhelmed with bath accessories and toiletries.

• Clear countertops of all the bathroom odds and ends, including toothpaste, toothbrushes, hair spray, makeup, and the list goes on.
• Fold towels neatly and make sure they’re hanging straight down.
• Close the lids on the toilets.
• Make sure mirrors and shower doors are free of anything that looks remotely like soap scum.

Miscellaneous

After you’ve done whatever you can to prepare your house for photos, it’s best if you, your family, and your pets leave the house during a photo shoot. Let the photographer do the work in peace and quiet.

Think about anything in your home that you don’t want to be displayed on the internet and remove it from sight. For example, you may not want to advertise the original Van Gogh you have hanging in the living room. If your children have their names on their doors or in their rooms, consider removing them if they will show in the photos. If you want to see some examples of what makes listing photos look good, check out this article.

If you want to hire Realtors in Broward County, please consider the Teri Arbogast Real Estate Team. Take a look at our Google reviews, and you’ll see that our clients have lots of good things to say. We’re very proud of our five-star ratings on Google, Zillow, and other real estate review websites. We’d love to make you our next successful client!  Call us at 954-242-8030 or send an email today.

You’ve probably seen ads for companies that want to give you a price for your home online and then buy it from you for cash.  You know, the We Buy Ugly Houses-type folks. iBuyers stopped buying homes when the COVID-19 pandemic hit the U.S. Now, however, they’re starting their operations back up. Is selling to an iBuyer a good strategy for you?

What is an iBuyer?

An iBuyer is a company that buys homes for cash and then sells them for a profit. They’re not all flippers. We Buy Ugly Houses will look at homes that need a lot of renovation, but many of the iBuyers, such as Zillow and Offerpad look for homes that need very little in the way of updates.

Typically, iBuyers use an Automated Valuation Model (AVM) to determine the price they will offer for your home. That’s why they don’t need to visit your home to give you a purchase offer. The Models use proprietary algorithms that take into account the value assigned by your tax assessor, sales history for your home, and an analysis of comparable properties.

The Models don’t account for the condition of the property. That’s why some iBuyers ask you for information about your home’s condition, photos, or virtual tours.

What You Need to Know About Working with an iBuyer

iBuyers are running a business and they must make sure that they can make a profit on every house they buy. But, if they make you an offer, you can sell your home in just a few days. Don’t expect to negotiate with an iBuyer. Usually they’ll give you their best offer.

1. You can sell your house very quickly

Typically, iBuyers can give you an offer in a matter of days. And, you can close very quickly after you’ve had a chance to review the offer. You don’t need to list your house, host showings, negotiate with buyers, or pay real estate agent commissions.

2. You will pay for convenience

It’s only reasonable that an iBuyer can’t offer you market value for your house. It would be impossible for the iBuyer to stay in business if they sold houses at the same price they paid for them.

According to a study conducted by Collateral Analytics, a typical cost to sell to an iBuyer runs around 13% to 15% of the house price, depending on which iBuyer a seller works with. iBuyers’ fees are usually lower than market value, and they often include a renovation budget, and fees to reimburse the iBuyer for risks and carrying costs. A study published by MarketWatch found a discount rate ranging from about 12% to 18% in a big market like Atlanta.

You can compare those discounts to the cost of real estate commissions, which are typically 6% of the sales price of a house. If your home needs repairs to renovations, you would pay for them yourself if you worked with a real estate agent. It’s impossible to know whether the estimate that an iBuyer rolls into their fees would be more or less than what you’d pay for the same work.

3. Your house may not be attractive to an iBuyer

Each iBuyer has their own definition of the type of home they will purchase. Some may be looking for houses priced in the middle of the market, others might shy away from a unique home, or one in an area with a lot of competition. Not every seller is going to get offers from iBuyers.

Should You Sell to an iBuyer?

iBuyers are lifesavers for people who need to move quickly. If you’re considering taking that approach, make sure to get multiple offers since each iBuyer works differently. Also, read the fine print carefully to find out if the iBuyer can change the offer during the process, if fees could change, etc.

Many sellers want top dollar when they sell. If you need to get top dollar for your existing home to help finance your new one, working with an iBuyer won’t help you meet that goal.

If you want to get some insight from Realtors in Broward County, please consider the Teri Arbogast Real Estate Team. Take a look at our Google reviews, and you’ll see that our clients have lots of good things to say. We’re very proud of our five-star ratings on Google, Zillow, and other real estate review websites. We’d love to make you our next successful client!  Call us at 954-242-8030 or send an email today.