Step #1 – Declutter and Refresh
In Ocean City, this isn’t as necessary compared to primary homes. But if you plan on selling your primary home in Ocean City, this absolutely applies to you. The goal is to make your home appear a clean blank slate. Remove your picture frames/family photos, remove all your knick-knacks, give all of those homeless items a home. I want you to look around your home and remove as much as possible that pertains to your family. The reason behind removing all person belongings is to make the home look and feel like anyone can move it and make it their own. If every corner is plastered with your family or something very personal to you, the potential buyers will have a hard time picturing themselves living there and making new memories.
Take some time to refresh your furniture, textiles/bedding, paint, etc. If you’ve been meaning to paint for a good while or rent your home, do yourself a favor and paint your home, especially the stairways! They get beat up with baggage in and out every week. Not to mention it is the first thing buyers will notice walking the stairway to your condo. Lastly, power wash! If you haven’t done it within a year, it’s worth every penny.
Step #2 – Repair or Replace
Now that you have a clean slate, you can take a nice stroll around your home with fresh eyes. Any kind of small defects or issues in need of repair, do it now. If you are missing a knob on your bi-fold doors, fix it. Sounds silly but you want to show pride in the way you cared for your home. By skimping on little items, it makes your home look tired. I am not asking you to replace the roof, or renovate the kitchen. In Ocean City, small renovation don’t always pay for themselves in resale. I am only talking about items like light bulbs, window blinds, sinks, toilets, cabinets, etc.
Step #3 – Landscape
This may not apply to everyone since OC has very plain landscaping for maintenance reasons. But take a day to walk the exterior of your home. Curb appeal accounts for a lot more than sellers realize. Power wash the exterior including decks, refresh your planters, weed around the sidewalk and remove all debris. Not performing these tasks will not necessarily deter a buyer. But a property that is well maintained, subliminally tells prospective buyers that the home is well taken care of. I’ve found the exterior can say a lot more negative things when not kept well compared to a well maintained yard.
Can you do nothing?
Of course you can! As the seller, it’s your world, we’re just living in it! I am here to work for you to get you the most for your home. The above are minimum steps every seller should take. If you decide not to do the above, your house will probably still sell. But at what cost? Maybe $20k less, $50k less, maybe no difference, who knows! There is no way of knowing. But if you have time to pull the trigger on selling, put your best foot forward and prep your home before listing. I have found prepping your home for pictures and staging appropriately gets you at least 50% more buyers interested and looking at your home on Zillow/Realtor/Redfin etc. So do yourself a favor. If you want to sell for more money roll your pant legs up and get to work!l