The final result was better than she had ever imagined, but it took some serious soul searching, intense preparation, and full collaboration with her agent.
For years after she retired from her career as a flight attendant, Linda wanted to be with her friends who purchased homes in Florida and frequently traveled together from there. However, the responsibility of being the sole caretaker of her now 97-year old mom, Dolly required her to stay-put. Her family lived in upstate New York where her mother also owned a home. So the interim plan was to move back with Dolly to her New York house where her family could help with her care.
Preparation started by meeting with her agent to create a plan, and then it was time to start packing up her house.
Once she decided to sell, the job of emptying the home she had lived in since 1995 began. There are services to help a homeowner clear out their house quickly and easily, but Linda (Linda L, not me!) wanted to dig into this process herself.
William Raveis offers Raveis Refresh, a service that removes the homeowner’s burden of preparing the home for sale, and there’s no out of pocket expense to the seller until the closing.
But Linda felt the need to go through everything in the house and give away as much as she could. She accomplished this the old fashioned way, through networking and many trips to Goodwill! I believe that this process was also important for Linda because it was part of the emotional transition. It was not easy to leave the neighborhood she loved for so many years.
Part of our plan was to meet with a stager and determine the strategy for how to present the house to get the most money out of it.
We were all in agreement that the darkish yellow walls did not support the beachy vibe we wanted to go for in the beach area. Even the white ceilings needed refreshing after so many years since being painted. Several light fixtures from another era needed to be replaced and the exterior needed some touching up as part of the freshness strategy. And because Linda planned to get rid of almost everything in the house, the rooms needed furnishing. It was hard, even for us, to visualize the transformation that was soon to take place.
As Linda emptied the house, she gained momentum.
Linda called contractors to have deferred maintenance items attended to and had anything that was broken fixed. Gradually, she got rid of everything and made some key improvements like replacing the wood deck with new maintenance-free composite, installing some new appliances in the kitchen, and swapping out several light fixtures.
Fresh paint in the right shade yields the highest ROI. Staging creates the magic.
Then the painting began, and as the rooms became white, the natural light was reflected and uncovered a beautiful etherial feel that was dormant before. Even the basement got a paint refresh! With the home now a glow, it was time for the stagers to add the final magic. In one afternoon, they had the living room, dining room, study, and two bedrooms beautifully furnished, and the whole house accessorized. Linda’s house went from cluttered, dim, and tired, to light, bright, and magazine worthy! When she returned after leaving the house to the stagers, she could not believe it was the same house! She had the same reaction as the buyers who came to see it! Excitement!
The plan, effort, and collaboration paid off!
The house went on the market on a Thursday morning in time for the broker tour. Many agents came through with positive feedback. A number of agent showings took place from Thursday through the weekend. The showings in combination with a Saturday and Sunday open house brought 56 people through in four days! Multiple offers were received above the asking price, and by Monday, the new homeowner was on board!
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Fairfield and Westport CT Real Estate Guide 