Pukana St. Home in Hilo, HI
We met with our prospect who wished to sell her Hilo home early in April, 2008. As we discussed price, she asked what she could do to make her home more “sale-able” in the current market. Our first task was to create a prioritized “To-Do” list. She had already completely painted the interior and exterior of the house, removed old red carpeting and installed laminate floors in the living area and new carpet in the bedrooms. She agreed to replace rusty interior lighting fixtures, old cracked sinks in the bathrooms, old mirrors, old window coverings and to plant the front exterior area with colorful flowers.
Once our seller was finished with home improvements, the house looked great and most objections from potential buyers had been removed. We listed the house at a price consistent with recent sales on May 13, 2008.
We held an open house on May 18. Over 30 people came! We received 5 offers on the house by Tuesday. The house sold for over asking price and escrow was opened on Wednesday.
Obviously, there are still many buyers wishing to purchase a home on the Big Island. The key is having a seller willing to put their home in good condition before it is listed and to list at a price consistent with today’s market. Overpricing in today’s market just does not work.
Listors: Linda West, R, GRI and Christine Makaweo, R
Way to go Linda! Just like watching HGTV. I think more Sellers should view that program as everything from inital “curb appeal” to a tidy and uncluttered home with a competitive price tag will sell a house. It’s surprising what a simple coat of paint, a good rug cleaning and picking up clutter will do to catch a Buyer’s attention.