PROMO

The pre-sale process – Improve position and enhance your home without breaking the bank

Coldwell Banker

Getting a home inspection and completing a few enhancement projects before putting a house on the market will give sellers the edge in Salem’s competitive housing market.

Selling your home

Being proactive doesn’t mean you have to break the bank, it just means you are taking some important pre-sale steps that will go a long way towards building a little more trust with prospective buyers.

Pre-sale home inspection

A home inspection is often requested after an offer on the home has been made. The seller waits with anxiety for what might be revealed. What flaws are in the home? What will the prospective buyer want them to fix to make the deal happen? How much will those repairs cost?

“As a general rule, it’s important to do the pre-sale home inspection yourself for a variety of reasons,” said 20-year inspector Terry Wilder, of AmeriSpec Inspection Services in Salem. “It really does take away any element of surprise, and could prevent some issues from coming up that would cause a deal to fall through later.”

Wilder said investing in your own inspection before posting the sign in the front lawn eliminates the post-offer anxiety, and gives sellers the edge because they already know the condition of the home. A few more reasons to invest in the pre-home inspection include:

  • Comforting buyers: A pre-home inspection can assure buyers there will be no surprises down the road.
  • Save time and money: Even in newer homes, an inspector is always going to find something. By paying a few hundred for an inspection pre-sale, a home owner can decide whether to make those repairs and seek competitive bids, saving them time and money.
  • Have leverage in negotiations by knowing your exact position: Even if the prospective buyer requires their own inspection, the home owner is already knowledgeable about what it will say and the position they can take.
  • Avoid extra costs: Fixing or enhancing the home based on the pre-sale inspection will save the seller money at closing.

Pre-sale enhancements

To help address many of those home repair issues, Coldwell Banker Mountain West Real Estate, Inc. developed the Lifetime Homecare Service. This one-of-a-kind program is designed to assist buyers and sellers, represented by their own Coldwell Banker Mountain West agents, with handyman repairs, for as long as they own their home. The many handyman repairs include replacing hard to reach light bulbs, fixing leaking faucets and running toilets, caulking around showers, repairing small wall holes, and installing smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors, as required by law, when selling a home. The 4 handymen employees have performed over 25,000 service calls to satisfied homeowners since its debut in 2002.

Another one-of-a-kind program is Coldwell Banker Mountain West’s online Home Enhancement store. Designed to offer customers home remodeling products such as 48” stainless steel gas ranges, freestanding bathtubs, dishwashers, 100% wool carpeting, designer light fixtures, and much more, all of which add value at affordable prices.