The sale of your house is – no, has to be – a team effort. You will need a bunch of different vendors, will have to call on the expertise of several professionals, to finally make it successfully through closing. And in all this, time is money, just as it is in other business endeavor or transaction. So the more time these vendors can save you, the more money you make. Let’s take a look, then, at the 5 most important vendors you should hire to help with the sale of your house in Newark, Irvington, Orange, and East Orange.
1. Professional Painters
Painting the interior of your home typically provides the greatest return on investment of any other improvement you can make for the sale of your house in Newark, Irvington, Orange, and East Orange. But, in order to get that bigger sale price through painting, it has to be a good job and done in the right colors. So unless you’re willing to learn the trade and then live on a job site for several weeks, with your furniture covered by dropcloths and inaccessible, your best bet is to hire professional painters.
Pros can help you choose the most buyer-appealing colors, as well as getting the job done in just a few days. And the sooner you can get your house ready, the sooner you can list it and sell it. In addition, professional painters are usually insured and bonded, so if any “accidents” do happen, you won’t have to foot the bill for repairs or carpet cleaning.
2. Landscaping Service
When it comes to the sale of your house in Newark, Irvington, Orange, and East Orange, almost nothing is as important as curb appeal. That’s because first impressions are so critically important. And the exterior of your home and the landscaping (or lack thereof) create that crucial first impression that makes buyers want to go inside and see more.
If landscaping is so important to the sale of your house, then why would you leave it to an amateur like yourself? Here’s how the industry experts explain: “Overgrown shrubs, spindly grass, and sparse mulch make your yard look sloppy. A buyer may wonder, if you can’t keep up with the yard work, what other home maintenance have you neglected? Bring in a landscaper to spread fresh mulch, trim shrubs or plant new ones, prune trees, blow leaves, and mow your yard regularly. Add a couple of flowering pots or hanging plants to your front porch and, boom – you have curb appeal.”
3. Professional Home Stager
Once you have the interior walls professionally painted and the outside all shipshape, it’s time to think about the next most important thing for the sale of your house in Newark, Irvington, Orange, and East Orange – staging. Again, your best bet is to hire a professional home staging service, and here’s why.
“You can talk about square footage and upgrades all you want, but ultimately, many people buy a home based on emotion – how it makes them feel and if they can picture themselves living there. A professional home stager views your home from the buyer’s perspective and will flat-out tell you that your plaid couch, floral wallpaper, and life-sized wedding photo have to go. A home stager can look at your home with detachment and act as your most picky potential buyer.”
So a home stager will get your house ready to sell by making it look more appealing to the most buyers possible. In fact, “stagers often are interior designers, or have worked as one in the past, and use their design skills to make your home look its best.” More important is the fact that a 2016 Real Estate Staging Association survey found that “staged homes spend 90 percent less time on the market than their nonstaged competition.”
4. Top-Quality Photographer
Then, after painting and landscaping and staging, you need to get those top-notch, professional-quality listing photos. Because almost all home shoppers begin their search online now, these photos are more important than they’ve ever been for the sale of your house in Newark, Irvington, Orange, and East Orange. Many buyers may never see you home in person until the final stages of the process.
One top real estate agent puts it this way: “Your home is entering a beauty pageant, and it needs to be presented as such. . . . Blurry, dimly lit photos make your home look dark, cramped, and cluttered. Your phone is fine for Instagram selfies, but for selling your home, enlist a professional real estate photographer who knows how to use lighting and flattering angles to highlight your home’s best qualities.”
5. Local Real Estate Agent
A final – or, rather, the first – vendor or professional you’ll need to hire to help with the sale of your house in Newark, Irvington, Orange, and East Orange is a qualified, experienced local real estate agent. Sure, you can sell your house yourself, and you may seem to be saving money by not having to pay the agent’s commission. But are you really? You’ll almost always sell faster and at a better price by using an agent. Find out today how our agents can help you do just that. Contact us at 201-341-6590.