Alisha's Remodeling Tips

There has been a lot of my clients who had remodeled or plan to remodel his/her home to attract more buyers and receive higher selling price. Some have started right and gained a great result in terms of short selling time, multiple offers and great price. However, others have spent a lot of time, money and efforts but the outcome is not quiet as great. So, what things need to be done and how to go about getting the most out of your remodeling?

First of all, find an agent who has good designing coordination. How do you know if the agent has "good taste" in home coordination? Ask! Ask them if they have ever remodeled homes for their clients before, ask for before and after photos so you can see for yourself. It would be best if the agent has an interest in designing since they would probably pay attention to decorating ideas whenever they view homes. Ask the agent about different types of materials such as pergo wood, laminate wood, distressed wood, travertine, granite, corian, etc. Don't expect them to be experts, that's not their job, however, they should be able to tell you general differences between them and the approximate prices they cost.

Second, find an agent who is very active in helping people buying or selling homes. An agent who list homes does not mean they know more. On the contrary, agents who takes a lot of buyers every week have the first hand information on what today's buyers like. Just as the styles of the clothing changes, the buyers' preferences change also. The agent who takes the buyers out every week would usually have more information to give owners tips about what things are preferred when remodeling.

Third, when you find that agent who you feel confident with, ask the agent if he or she would help you from time to time on coordination. If you like the agent's dedication to you, you need to also be dedicated to him or her by signing at least a 6 month listing agreement with him or her. This is a mutual benefit and since you are not paying the agent for their professional knowledge and their precious time, you can at least give them a statement of "thanks". If you are doing over 50% of remodeling your home, I suggest you pay your realtor a little bit so he/she can continue to have gas money and get some fast food traveling to your home many times to help you.

Fourth, establish an after-remodel selling price. Ask the agent to give you some information on the price range of homes sold in your area comparable to your home. Agents have access to the MLS, most of the time, sold properties have photos. Use those photos to compare the price, location, condition and sold date to arrive at an approximate cap value. The reason this is important is because if most of the homes in your neighborhood is sold at $700,000 comparable to your home criteria, you don't want to spend so much on high quality materials that will force you to sell your home at $800,000. Although it will be probably the best home in the neighborhood, but it will be very difficult to sell. Therefore, an agent who is knowledgeable will help you establish a budget for your remodeling.

Fifth, talk to your realtor about a remodeling theme. Remember, you are going to sell your house and your goal is to spend as little as possible to get as good of a quality and workmanship as possible and have the home be acceptable to as wide range of people as possible. So, no personal preferences! Listen to your realtor and drop too many personal taste! If your home is not very big, you want to go lighter color, etc.

Sixth, plan out what areas you want to remodel and what is your budget. Be realistic! Share your remodeling thoughts with your realtor and see what he or she thinks. They see hundreds of homes and if they pay attention to the positive and negative feedback from their clients, they should be able to give you some good ideas. If your budget sounds reasonable for the works you like to get done, break down each area and designate a budget for each item. Example, remodel bathroom shower and vanity... budget $ 3,500 etc.

Seventh, ask the agent if they have used contractors that are reliable and not too costly. Don't choose the contractor based on the cheapest one. Usually the cheapest ones don't show up on time, don't do a good job, delay planned schedule, don't call back promptly, etc. Start interviewing the contractors and make sure to ask for his/her license and bond info. Have them put everything quoted to do in writing. Make sure if permits from the city is needed that you address this with your contractor.

Eighth, establish a time line of work to be completed. If you have more than one trade contractor, some work may be done with more than one contractor at the same time to shorten your remodeling time. The longer your remodeling time is, the more draining it is to your lifestyle.

Ninth, you don't have to spend a lot of money for a home to look good. I have remodeled a few homes already and what I spend total surprises just about everyone I know. I have used vinyl material for kitchen and bathroom floors and sold the home for my client within 11 days at the highest price that neighborhood had sold at that time. The other home 1 block from my listing with larger living square footage and larger lot size was still on the market for over 6 months when I sold my client's. The reason is how well you have put the color and material and furniture staging together. You don't always have to get the best material and spend a lot of money to get the results. However, don't let one thing important you didn't do to ruin the whole house trend.

Tenth, listen to your realtor on how to stage your home, get rid of clutter, personal photos, etc. to be more inviting for majority of people. One very important thing that many sellers make mistake on...and that is over pricing! Yes, you have worked hard to get your home together and spent a lot of money to remodel, however, it is better to have buyers over-bidding on your home than for buyers try to cut your prices down. The clients that follow our set goals usually sells much faster and/or for higher prices than those clients that decides to increase the selling price much higher. Remember I have mentioned on step four on establishing a selling price? Well, try to stick with that price as much as possible.

There are so many more detail things that will take me at least 20 pages to write, but the important thing is to find a dependable and knowledgeable realtor and work together as a team to achieve your goal.

Below are some of the examples on the homes I have remodeled:

** Planning on remodeling & selling? Call Alisha and get packing!