Don’t forget to upgrade the thing you can’t see if you’re selling a home. Depending on where you are located, the market is telling you to do certain things with your house before selling it.

Maybe your market is flooded with homes for sale, and your Realtor has asked you to do a number of things:  fresh paint, hire a home stager, upgrade your appliances, change out lighting fixtures, etc.

Maybe your market is starving for listings and you have to do very little to sell your home—phew!

I’ve bought and sold in both climates.   When I sold my first home, it was competing with a plethora of homes all of the similar style, age and price.  My current home is a new build, and we get calls/door stuffers every week from Realtors asking if we are considering selling.  There just isn’t enough inventory in our area, and as a result, the price point for our home has jumped considerably.

Oddly enough, you will never guess what is exactly the same between my starter home (under 200K) and the new home (over 600K).  Both homes are outfitted with $10 bathroom fans!  Now I know you probably have one of these in your house as well.  You know the ones that sound like a 747 taking off.   Can you imagine what a potential homebuyer thinks when they walk into your beautifully designed master bathroom …

“What a beautiful faucet, is that a rainfall shower head, look at that soaker tub, love the tile  oh wow it’s radiant flooring”

Then they move along to the practical checks, they check the water pressure, flush the toilet, and they turn on the bathroom fan – AHHHHHHH!

All that hard work and money has been used to set the ambiance for the homebuyer, and it’s been ruined by a $10 fart fan!

My starter house sold the very first day it was on the market, despite having homes all around us for sale.  I cannot say for certain it was because I swapped out the noisy bathroom fan for a quiet, efficient in-line fan. But I can say that no one would have cringed when they turned it on; in fact it was probably so quiet they had to hold a piece of paper to the vent to make sure it was running.

If you are selling your home, please consider updating the things that you cannot see; it may be what sets you apart from the competition.

Happy Listing!