Refuge Properties North Idaho

Category: Selling

  • The Story of Your Home & Neighborhood

    When people come to view your home, the most important thing is usually the home itself and they may have already researched the neighborhood they want to live in, but providing neighborhood data as well as some of the things that the buyer can’t see, like utility costs or even hidden or overlooked special features in your home, may be the thing that seals the deal for them. Gather the following data and then make a special features or “What I Love About This Home” flyer to place in a “Home Book” and on the kitchen counter for those viewing your home. Most of these will be uploaded into the Documents section on your listing in the MLS.

    • Legal Information like the legal property description, picture of the parcel outlines, and the preliminary title report if you’ve ordered one. The legal description and parcel outline is public information found on your county’s assessor website so you’re not disclosing something that isn’t readily available elsewhere and some people want to know. The preliminary title report will have some personal information so you may not want to put that in if it’s a concern, but buyers may ask for it before making an offer and will certainly look at it once under contract. If you’ve had a property survey done, you should also include this.
    • If you are on a well and/or septic, the recent inspection report showing they are in good working order.
    • Property tax information including any exemptions you may have that affect what you pay.
    • Property Disclosure Report. This is a real estate form with questions about the condition of the property like whether there are any issues with the plumbing or how old the roof is. You will have to provide this to anyone who makes an offer so you might as well provide it up front.
    • Information on local schools including the public school district you’re in. You may also consider providing a list of private schools, including day cares, near you since more and more people, especially here in North Idaho, are choosing to send their children to private schools.
    • A list of utility providers and your average monthly cost.
    • Local businesses you recommend like restaurants, supermarkets, health care, and the like. Some people may be moving from out of the area and this will be useful. Is there a great restaurant just a mile down the road that has trivia nights every Thursday? That’s a selling point!
    • For the “What I Love About This Home” sheet, tell the story behind your home. When we sold our last home, one of the things that unintentionally helped sway the buyers was a portrait of our family showing our three boys. We’d actually put this in the garage while “depersonalizing” our home, but the buyers saw it and, after we’d gotten under contract, they told us that was one of the reasons they wanted to move there, as silly as it may seem. They were newlyweds but wanted to have three boys of their own. Of course, I’m not saying you should go into detail about your family. In fact, depending on how you frame it, it could even be a fair housing violation, but even though you want to depersonalize your home to a large extent, adding a little personality and warmth that can only come from the human touch may be the thing that attracts that eventual buyer. Some things you may want to put in this section:
      • Why you bought the home.
      • What you will miss about the home and neighborhood. If the sunsets are spectacular from the back porch or if the neighbors get together for outdoor movie nights in the cul-de-sac every Friday, point this out.
      • The potentially overlooked features in the home. Talk about drinking your morning coffee in the bay window while watching the hummingbirds feed or the fact that there’s a slide out spice rack that may be overlooked while touring. For these overlooked features, it’s a good idea to also make little cards to tape up around the house highlighting them.
      • What your favorite thing about the house is.
      • What your favorite thing about the neighborhood is.
      • What upgrades you’ve made to the home including new appliances, a new roof or siding, or new furnace and when these upgrades were made.

  • Remodeling: Worth the Investment?

    Typically, if you’re planning on remodeling your home, it means you’re planning on staying there for awhile and the investment has as much to do with your own enjoyment of your home as it does with increasing the value. Sometimes, though, potential sellers wonder if they should remodel or upgrade something in their home just before selling in order to make it more attractive to buyers and, hopefully, get more money or a quicker sale.

    Generally, this is not a good idea. You are not likely to recover the cost of the remodel. The only time I encourage sellers to invest more money into their home is if there’s a clear material defect that will make it difficult to sell. If the kitchen is dated, that’s fine, especially since the new owners likely have a different vision of what a dream kitchen is than you do. If the carpet is older but still in okay condition, it’s also probably a good idea to just leave it as is and maybe offer a flooring credit. Again, the new owners might want a different style or may want hardwood or vinyl flooring.

    That said, if the cabinets or counters are heavily damaged or the carpet is heavily worn, replacing them might be worth it. Many people may have a hard time envisioning what a home may look like fully remodeled or with items fixed or they simply want a truly move in ready home.

    In their “Remodeling 2024 Cost vs. Value Report”, Zonda Media listed the following projects as recouping their investment (data from the Spokane market specifically):

    • Garage Doors (227.5%)
    • Entry Door (Steel) (186.3%)/Grand Entrance (Fiberglass) (100.3%)
    • Manufactured Stone Veneer (137.5%) – This addition will depend a lot on the style of your home.
    • Minor Kitchen Remodel (114.3%) – By comparison, a major kitchen remodel will only recoup 55.4% and what constitutes minor vs. major is highly subjective to both you a the potential buyer. The national estimates for a minor kitchen remodel only recoup 96.1%.

    If in doubt whether to take on a particular project before selling, the best thing to do is get a couple of bids from contractors and then have your real estate agent give you their estimate on how much it will increase the value of the home. Remember, though, that while the bid from the contractor will be pretty close to exact, even the best real estate agents can only give an educated guess on how much a particular improvement will add to the value because, again, it’s all subjective.

    At the end of the day, the most beneficial home improvement you can do is making sure the house is clean and tidy and the outside is free of junk or yard debris. Do things like pressure wash the driveway, patios, and walkways. Sweep away the cobwebs from around the entry. Plant some colorful flowers if it’s the right season and mow the lawn. All these things cost almost nothing other than your time and will do wonders in attracting buyers.

    Two other great resources for remodeling costs are the National Association of the Remodeling Industry’s Remodeling Impact Report (2022 is the most recent) and Pillar to Post Home Inspectors Pillar to Post Cost Guide. Both of these reflect national data and estimates.

  • The Life of an Escrow

    What is escrow and how does it work? When you’re buying a property, you’re exchanging a considerable amount of money for it and the eventual transfer has to go through multiple steps not only to ensure both parties are dealing fairly (remember the old joke about selling the Brooklyn Bridge?) but that all the proper documentation is accounted for and eventually recorded with the county.

    What I’ve found in all the transactions I’ve been a part of is that people aren’t dishonest so much as they are operating off different presumptions about what the other party wants. As a very simple example, take the final state of the home when it’s turned over. It’s very unlikely that the seller will refuse to turn over the house or, worse yet, sign the closing documents and then refuse to leave becoming a squatter (although this does happen), but they may leave a bunch of junk behind or they may have damaged a wall while moving out. This is why it’s important to have a re-inspection or final walk through just before closing. If there’s significant junk lying around or damage, this is where escrow becomes very important. They will hold back the money until the situation is remedied. Furthermore, when a lender is involved, they will be sending their portion of the funds directly to escrow. Finally, when everything has been completed, the escrow or title officer will have the sale recorded with the county recorder’s office. On the seller side, the escrow officer will also be the one to pay off your loan if there is one.

    Here’s a handy breakdown of who does what and when from our friends at First American Title.

    The Life of an Escrow – Detailed (1)Download

  • Tips for Preparing Your Home to Be Photographed and Shown

    More than anything else, photos sell your home. 95% of people see your home for the first time on the internet and most of those people decide to see it in person based on the photos. This is not the time to pull out the iPhone and snap a few quick pics. A professional photographer with professional equipment will be able to make your home stand out and, in some cases, look even better than it does in person. With almost all of my listings, I also pay for the photographer to do a virtual walkthrough, sometimes called a Matterport tour for the type of camera that is used. This allows people to walk through the home virtually by clicking on spots within the floor plan. Each of these spots is where the 360-degree camera took shots so the person viewing it can see every corner of the house as if they were there. It also provides complete floor plan of the house and what is known as a dollhouse view.

    Before the photographer comes to your home though, there are some things you need to do. I can’t tell you how many photos I’ve seen online where dirty laundry was left on the bed, the toilet seat was up, or the kitchen counter was crowded with appliances or just plain junk. Sure, some people will have the vision to look past all of that. After all, they’re not buying your junk, just your home, but many people will take one look at a few photos and decide the house is not for them just based on the mess. When we purchased our last home, we paid far less than I think we would have had the owner taken the time to declutter and clean. We had the vision to see it was a good home for the price so, in a market where most homes were selling in under a week with multiple offers, this one had sat for months.

    So what do you need to do, beyond removing the dirty laundry from the bed and putting the toilet seat down? In short, pretend like you’re entertaining your boss or welcoming your girlfriend’s or boyfriend’s parents over for the first time. Here are some things to consider well in advance, not the morning the photographer is coming over. A good photographer will do some things, like close the toilet seat, maybe even open the blinds to let in more light, but it’s actually your job to do so.

    • Do a deep clean. Sure, the camera is not going to pick up tiny specks of food on the kitchen floor, but you’d be surprised what it will. Make it shine!
    • Remove as much as possible from counters, tables, and desktops. The general rule of thumb is to leave one or two kitchen appliances on the counter, maybe the toaster and the coffeepot. The more you remove though, the bigger the space will look. Do the same in the bathrooms. It’s okay to leave the hand soap dispenser and you might want to dress it up with a small plant, but beyond that, put it in a drawer or a box. Anything you aren’t likely to use in the next month or so might as well be packed away. It’ll save you from having to do so when it’s eventually time to move.
    • Pick up all the toys and other smaller items around the house and in the yard. If the kids have a play kitchen or a large toy truck, it’s okay to leave those out if they are not easy to store, but put them up against a wall or place them otherwise intentionally. A stager will be able to help you with that.
    • Consider removing some of the furniture. The less furniture in a room, the bigger it will look. Of course, you actually want to have some to help potential buyers envision how they are going to use the space, but if you have extra chairs or tables crowding the space, move them to the garage. This is especially true for that raggedy old chair that the cat shredded. Again, a stager will be able to help you with what should stay and what should go. You may even consider selling or donating some furniture if you’re not planning on taking it with you.
    • Remove all the papers and artwork from the front of the refrigerator. (It’s probably okay to leave one picture your kid made if you really want to, but again, less is more.)
    • Make sure all the light bulbs are working. Smoke detectors as well. You don’t want those things beeping away during a showing because the battery has died.
    • If you don’t store your trash under the counter, put it in the garage along with the big dog food container.
    • Make sure the bathroom and kitchen towels are clean and neatly folded. You may even consider buying some new ones to brighten up the space. The stager can help with this. Many times, they’ll even provide you with towels that can add color to the space.
    • Remove bath mats from the bathroom.
    • Make the beds. This is another area you may consider investing in new bed linens or decorative pillows or having the stager provide some.
    • Hide any extraneous cords and remotes.
    • Mow the lawn, weed the garden, pressure wash the driveway, patio, and walkway and clean any dirt away from the siding, and wash the windows both inside and out. Consider planting some colorful flowers if it’s appropriate for the season.
    • Put away any gardening equipment and clean the outside of the grill. You may want to buy a new grill cover if the old one is dirty or worn.
    • Park cars inside the garage if there is room or park them away from the house. You can, of course, put them back in the driveway once the photographer is done, but for the photos, you want a clear view of the front of the house, not your car.
    • Consider depersonalizing your home as much as possible. People should really be judging the home itself, not the occupants, but you’d be surprised how many people may pass on a house just because there are things inside they don’t agree with like political messaging they disagree with or even sports memorabilia from a team they don’t like. Of course, this is totally up to you. It might be that the provocative sign, if the potential buyer agrees with it, might be the thing that seals the deal.
    • Open all the blinds and turn on all the lights just before the photographer arrives.
    • Prior to a potential showing, make sure the place smells nice. Air it out if you have pets or teenage boys. Take out the garbage. Consider lighting a neutral smelling or putting an air freshener out. Stay away from strong smells that some people may be allergic to though.
    • If it’s appropriate for the season, light the fireplace. Do this, of course, only if you know someone is coming to tour your home immediately after you leave.
    • Prior to showing you may also want to put on some quiet and calming music.
    • If you have a hot tub or pool and it’s appropriate for the season, remove the cover and turn on the jets.
    • If you have outdoor patio lights, turn those on for evening showings.