New Model Home in Gilroy, CA
I recently took a tour of some new homes being built in Gilroy, California. It’s always fun to check out new home staging. I love to see how home builders decorate and show their homes, because they employ the latest colors, styles, fixtures, and design elements. They carefully stage the homes so buyers will “ooh and ahh” – and then proceed to pay top dollar, with a minimum of fuss and negotiation. Music to my ears!
I always advise my clients that new sells. It’s what every buyer wants – but around here, many new home neighborhoods are not located very close to the urban amenities (shopping, parks, schools, entertainment, beach, etc.) that many buyers also crave.
And that remains the primary advantage for home sellers. Everyone knows that real estate is all about location, location, location. If you’ve got an older home in a great location, you’ve got something a tract home builder won’t be able to replicate…but you can replicate what they offer, which is a great design ethic.
Find your Place
You may not be able to afford to update and renovate the kitchen and bathrooms – but honestly, you usually don’t need to. In any event, those kind of expensive upgrades rarely end up netting you more money for your home. Yes, they’ll boost the sale price and help shorten your time on market, but the increase to the sale price usually won’t match the cost of the renovation (unless you are a very experienced, professional-grade do-it-yourself type so you save the labor fees).
In most cases, it’s the basics that end up giving you the biggest bang for the buck: cleaning, de-cluttering, de-personalizing, painting, installing new flooring if need be, freshening the curb appeal and landscaping, and artful staging.
Watch this video to get some ideas for what you can do to your own home to get it looking as close to new as practical. If you do, you run the risk of not wanting to move…but if you’re set on moving, this work will really work wonders and get your home sold quickly, for peak pricing.
