The Smart Seller's Guide: Start Planning Before You List

Thinking about selling your home in the next year? Garrett and Shelby explain why the smartest sellers start planning months in advance and how early preparation can save thousands while maximizing your home's value. 

Transcript

Speaker 1 0:00

Welcome to the Idaho Life Show Real Estate and Community. I'm Garrett Thill, and here as always with me, Shelby Matson, top producing agent in the Treasure Valley and VP of operations here at Idaho Life Real Estate. Shelby, today's episode is one that I'd argue is the single most valuable conversation that we've had with sellers all year, and almost nobody hears it in real time.

Speaker 0:22

That's right. We're talking to the homeowner who's just starting to think about selling. Maybe not this month, maybe not even this year. Could be a fall listing, could be a spring listing, could be next summer when the kids are finally out of school. If that's you, if the thought has even started, this is the episode for you. Because the work that actually moves the needle on your cell happens in this in the six to 12 months before the sign ever hits the yard. And most people, they don't even realize they're already in prep in the prep window.

Speaker 1 0:55

They don't even realize it. That's right. So here's the pattern that we see in our office, Shelby. We got the homeowner that calls and they say, you know, we're thinking about selling in October, you know, right now or June, July. You know, or we'd like to be on the market by March. Great. You know, perfect timing for that call, by the way. But then they say, you know, we just want to get a few things done first. You know, maybe they're saying, uh, you know, new countertops, you want to refinish the deck, we want to repaint the whole interior, maybe redo some siding, replace the carpet. And they want to know how much that's going to add to their sales price, which is a valid question.

Speaker 1:35

It is a valid question. And the honest answer almost every single time is we don't know yet, because we haven't seen the house, right? And before you spend a dollar on any of it, we need to walk through it together. That is the headline of this whole episode today. Before you start any improvements, before you swipe a card at Home Depot, before you sign a contract with a contractor, before you tear out the carpet. Meet with your trusted Realtor. That conversation costs you absolutely nothing. The wrong improvement can cost you tens of thousands of dollars and add almost nothing back.

Speaker 1 2:12

Which is scary. So scary. That's why we want to talk about this today. And I want to put a number on that for people because I don't think it lands until you do. We have seen sellers, Shelby, spend what, $20,000 to $50,000 on what we call the pre-sale improvements that have returned at best, maybe like $10, $10,000 on the sales price. We've also seen sellers spend $600 and often pick up $15,000 on the appraisal because of it. So the gap between those two stories is one call. It's one walkthrough. It's talking with your trusted realtor first. It's an honest conversation with somebody who looks at homes for a living like we do every day.

Speaker 2:57

Every single day. And here's why most people skip that conversation. They think it's too early. They think they can't call a realtor until they're ready to list. Not the case, though. Not the case. Absolutely not. They worry they'll be pressured into signing something. They feel like it's not fair to take up our time as real estate agents when they're not ready to commit. Let me just say this clearly. If you are thinking about selling, even thinking about thinking about it, that is exactly the moment to call. There is no commitment. There is no contract. We are not going to push you. We genuine, genuinely want to be in your home a year before you sell it, not three weeks before.

Speaker 1 3:38

Yeah. It's before doing those improvements, right? And that's probably the worst thing to do is walking to, I know this happened to you a couple of times, Shelby, where you walk to their home, they're ready to sell in three weeks. Yeah. And they tell you all these amazing things that they've spent the last year doing, upgrading the granite countertops. They're doing uh I've even sat we had one recently in their office where they put in a brand new pool over the summer and we asked them, you know, did you did you it sounds like you weren't planning on a moving? They said, Oh, we were planning on moving. And they put this pool in that cost about $140,000. They thought this would add a ton of value to the house. In fact, it added only a fraction of that. Yep. So, anyways, be because a year before you sell, uh, as far as talking with with you know our listeners, is we can save you money. So three weeks before you sell, we're just kind of sometimes trying to do some damage control if you've already put in, you know, a lot of money into it. And those two visits can feel completely different. You know, one is calm and strategic, you know, six to twelve months ahead of time. Like you said, zero commitment at all. And the other one can be a little bit more exhausting, anxious, and can get expensive.

Speaker 4:49

It really can. And the cost of anxious and expensive is real. Very right. You can't remove it if you're waiting till the last minute. When you're listing in three weeks and the photographer is booked for, let's just say next Tuesday, you don't have leverage anymore. You're paying weekend rates for handyman work. You're picking the contractor who can fit in, fit it in tomorrow instead of the contractor you actually wanted, right?

Speaker 1 5:12

You're paying for that a lot.

Speaker 5:13

You are paying. You're agreeing to the staging package that's available instead of the one that fits your home. Every single decision gets more expensive when the calendar is squeezed. The early call doesn't just save you on the wrong improvements, it saves you on the right ones too, because you're paying weekday prices to people who had time to actually plan the work.

Speaker 1 5:35

That's right. And let's talk about the timing here in the Treasure Valley specifically because I mean, seasonality is real, right? When it comes to selling properties. Absolutely. Spring, as it's widely known, it's our biggest window. It's the best window. It's that that March, maybe mid-March, April's on fire, May, June, even going to July is still a great opportunity, even into the summer, but that's kind of our biggest window that most sellers uh, you know, think that's the best time. And that's when most buyers are shopping. You know, that's when most of the inventory shows the best. Everything's green, it's not winter anymore. And that's when most of the multiple offer situations happen is kind of during those months. And if you want to list in April, the prep work starts in October. So, you know, five, six months out. So painting, decluttering, repairs, exterior planning, uh, you know, the the equity conversation. All that has to, you know, to have to have time to happen in the fall and winter. And your house hits the market April when it's performs the best.

Speaker 6:40

That's right. And summer, July, and August is still very strong. It is. Especially for the families relocating to Idaho who want to be in before school starts, right?

Speaker 1 6:50

Exactly.

Speaker 6:51

But your prep window for an August listing is February through May. Fall is steadier than people think here in the Treasure Valley. September and October bring serious buyers who are not browsing. They're actually moving. Winter is quieter on volume, but the buyers who are out there and are committed and inventory is much thinner. So a well-prepared winter listing can really stand out. Every one of those windows works in your favor as seller if you start the prep work the right amount of time ahead.

Speaker 1 7:22

I think so. And that's and that's really the key is there's still nothing wrong, right, Shelby, and calling you or one of our agents that we want to sell in three weeks. There's nothing wrong with that. Because a lot of people have already done that prep work, or maybe they don't even need to do that prep work. And that's that's a real conversation. A lot of these houses that we you we go into is they're they're ready to go. They haven't dumped in all that money. So um what we're gonna be talking about today is if you're thinking about doing these projects, again, you have plenty of time. Plan ahead.

Speaker 7:51

That's right. Let me lay out what we're going to walk through over the next 40-some minutes today. Segment two, the call you should make right now before you spend an absolute cent or dollar, and a specific tactic that is going to surprise some people listening. If you're planning to sell in the fall or winter, we need to send a photographer to your house this week, in June, while the valley is still green. That alone is worth the whole episode for some of you. Segment three, the easy preparation list, the things every seller can start this weekend that cost almost nothing and move the needle on every single sale. And segment four, the equity conversation. Knowing your real number early so you can plan where you're moving to instead of finding out at the closing table that the math just doesn't work.

Speaker 1 8:39

I like that the real number, Shelby. And I want to be honest about why this episode matters to us specifically. We see two kinds of sellers that come through our office, they call, refer to us. And the first kind called us a year ago. We've walked their house, we have a plan, the prep work is calm, it's sequenced, it's it's really strategic. The photos are scheduled, the listing dates on the calendar, we've got the coming soon, everything's lined up, and the sale feels almost effortless from the outside. And then the second kind calls us last Tuesday. They want to list this weekend. The house isn't ready, the yard isn't ready, the photos can't be taken until the contractor finishes the bathroom that's under construction. We're trying to fit this in a basically the six months of work in the nine days. Stressful. It's stressful. And both sellers, you know, they they get the same brokerage, they do not get the same outcome, right? The first seller almost always nets more money, sells faster, and it's calmer, and it's just less stressful throughout that entire process. The difference is when they made the first call.

Speaker 9:41

It really is. And I want to add, the first kind of seller is not somebody with more time on their hands or more money in the bank. They're just somebody who made the phone call earlier. That's the only difference. The early call is the cheapest, easiest, highest return decision in this whole entire process. And nobody ever talks about it.

Speaker 1 10:01

That's right. So if you're listening to this in your car right now and you know, you thought of, you know, selling has crossed your mind, even quietly, even, you know, as a someday type of thing, what we're giving you right now on the air is free permission to make that call today, even if you're not selling for a year. And even if you're not selling for two years, the conversation is something that will change the entire trajectory of how this goes throughout your future.

Speaker 10:28

100%. Coming up after the break, what the first conversation actually looks like the summer photography move that protects your fall and winter listing, and why your realtor sees things about your house that you can't see anymore.

Speaker 1 10:42

Excited. And before we go to the break, one more thought for the homeowner who's listening and thinking, you know, this all sounds great, but I'm just not ready to make that phone call yet. And that is okay. That's okay. Yeah. Start with the easy stuff today. Walk your house with a notepad like you're a buyer. Notice what catches your eye. Take pictures of every room on your phone and look at them later on the couch, the way a buyer looks at the listing price. And the gap between how your house looks and how it looks in the photo is one of the most useful things. Just a little tip for you guys. And then you can sit on that for a week before you ever even pick up the phone. Stay with us, we'll be right back.