The Case of the Hardworking Single Mother

Introduction

Despite the embellished stories told, selling a home is rarely as easy as it looks, except perhaps during the most obvious real estate bubbles. When real estate markets tighten, homeowners needing to sell can quickly become fearful that their hard-earned investment may be at risk once their home is exhibited for sale on the market. Premier entities such as Concierge Real Estate succeed at providing thoughtful expertise, partnership, and strategic energy all set in motion to present a home in its best light.

C.S., having lived in her home for eighteen years, contacted Concierge Real Estate to weigh her options for selling her home. On consultation and following a visual tour, her home was seen as well maintained, however, being the sole income earner for herself and four children of various ages left little time for well-coordinated home renovation and improvement projects.

The home was well lived in, and like many such homes, there is a tendency for them to accumulate old furniture, equipment, and other objects that have yet to be evaluated for true sentimental value. The integrity of home windows tends to degrade, driveways fall into disrepair, and carpeting suffers from soiling and wear and tear, especially in areas of constant traffic.

The Everyday Chaos of Family Life

Concierge Real Estate understands the routine, the dynamic and the ever-changing aspects of family life. Despite the best intentions of a family like C.S.’s, keeping a home in a state of constant market readiness is a near impossibility. Young children are justifiably unaware of their roughness as they learn to navigate the spaces they inhabit. Familial circumstances and arrangements in one moment can change in both expected and unanticipated ways, as they have for the last few decades. Further, without outside help, families often find it difficult to prioritize regular home maintenance projects over other competing areas such as child rearing, education, professional life, and social or community engagements. 

Rejuvenating C.S.’s Family Home

In a multi-pronged approach, Concierge Real Estate was able to cogently guide on a logical, priority-sensitive, budget-respecting approach to refurbishing the home and preparing it for sale. In the kitchen, suitable replacement countertops were recommended, selected, and installed. New carpeting was laid, and an indoor repainting project was completed successfully refreshing the home’s appeal. After careful evaluation, windows found to be in a decayed state were professionally replaced.  Outdoors, and driveway repaving was completed. To prepare for outside viewers, objects in the home not adding to the home’s immediate aesthetic appeal were carefully placed away in storage.

Homeowners preparing a home for sale, cannot necessarily enact all recommendations articulated by a real estate team. Thoughtful compromises are often required for both budgetary reasons and time constraints. When this is the case, homeowners need to be able to work with experienced and caring experts who understand the benefits of proceeding with some recommendations and can relay potential consequences of leaving some aspects of the property as is. Concierge Real Estate excelled in this area through excellent and reliable vendor selection when this was needed. However, through effective collaboration and dedication, C.S. was able to complete ninety percent of the property improvement recommendations herself.

Preparing for and Delivering to Market

Once renovation work was completed, a final cleaning of the property was done by a trusted and experienced service provider. This allowed experts to optimally stage the home for presentation. Effective lighting was installed, and carefully selected furniture and appliances were strategically placed.

With staging complete, surface, and aerial photography and videography including room-by-room footage was carefully obtained and curated. Some of these materials were professionally formatted further for use in pre-marketing materials including through social media to build awareness of the home prior to its official entry on the market. 

Result

After the consultation with C.S., the completion of rejuvenation projects, and the home’s staging, marketing, and placement on the market,  C.S.’s home sold for one hundred percent of its asking price within five days. Working with a Real Estate team that knows the challenges many families have both during everyday home living, and when preparing a home for sale goes a long way toward building effective rapport and a good working relationship with a homeowner. Initially, what is important is quelling initial fears, and offering positive industry-informed knowledge on how best to proceed at each stage. A refined yet tailored strategy on which home rejuvenation efforts to prioritize, and having already maintained relationships with reliable trade vendors, both go a long way to re-orienting the partnership from one of hesitancy and fear to one filled with positive energy. Only then can the partnership lead to a market result all can be proud of.