When selling a home there is one truth that stands above all others: you only get one chance to make a great first impression! Studies have shown that the first 10 seconds a potential buyer spends in your home leave the greatest impression, an impression that stays with them throughout the showing.
Judy McLellan and the JudyMac Team of Crye-Leike Realtors , the leading authority on Memphis residential real estate, have found that this is even more important if you’re selling a luxury home. To make your home irresistible you may need days or weeks to prepare your property for the market.
As your realtor we put a lot of effort into developing an effective pricing and marketing strategy, and our work doesn’t stop there! Judy and our expert team will help you determine the most valuable and powerful improvements you can make to your home to maximize its appeal. This appeal directly translates into more value to you as the seller.
We work alongside you to make this daunting task more manageable & much less stressful!
Here are some of our favorite practices that help set our luxury listing clients apart from the rest.
Curb Appeal
Curb appeal is the key to catching a homebuyer’s eye. If the exterior of your home is inviting and attractive, people will be drawn to see the interior. Take a look at the outside of your home and your landscaping as though you’re seeing it for the first time. How does the grass look? What about the front door? Can you see fingerprints everywhere? Are there obvious cobwebs? Does the door hardware look tarnished or out of date? To give your luxury home a welcoming look, consider the following suggestions as needed.
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Have the exterior of your home, the driveway, and walkways pressure washed.
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Repaint the exterior, front door, and porches or decks if necessary.
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Keep the lawn green and freshly mowed, trim all hedges, and plant flower beds.
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Consider adding window boxes beneath strategic.
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Replace the mailbox, set out a new welcome mat, and hang house numbers that are easy to read.
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Illuminate the porch and front walkway, especially if you plan to have showings in the evening.
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Hire a professional cleaning service to make sure your home is fresh and clean from top to bottom including the windows inside & out.
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Refinish your hardwood floors or add a fresh coat of sealer. Any carpeting should be in top condition, so you may need to look at replacing carpet in certain areas, or have it deep-cleaned before your house is placed on the market.
With so much focus on curb appeal, it can be easy to forget that landscaping in the backyard is just as important. Take care to keep the parts of your yard not immediately visible to viewers looking as neat and tidy as the front.
Keep Things Neat and Tidy
You want to make it easy for homebuyers to envision their own furnishings inside your home. Create empty space by cleaning out clutter and excess furniture. This includes removing toys, family photos, refrigerator art, and other personal items. Rent a storage unit to hold any excess items if needed. Pay special attention to countertops in the kitchen and bathroom. Packing up unnecessary items from shelves and closets is a great way to show potential buyers how much storage space they’ll have to work with. Conversely, if your property is empty, try renting a few key furniture pieces. Our stager can help with this process.
Brighten up Your Space and Aim for An Organized Look
In spaces that don’t offer much natural light, lamps can save the day! Aim for three types in each room: overhead or ambient lighting, task lighting like pendant and reading lamps, plus an accent or table lamp. During a showing, turn all the lights on, check that all bulbs are the same shade, and be sure there aren’t any bulbs out.
To create the illusion of rooms flowing into one another seamlessly, our stager will help position furniture and pieces of art strategically throughout the house. Objects tend to look better when they’re grouped in odd numbers: for example, a vase, decorative tray, and lamp displayed on an attractive end table. You’ll also want to avoid hanging paintings all in a row. vary the sizes and heights, or you can even experiment with a gallery wall for a more sophisticated and dramatic look. Balance a few select works of fine art, then add decorative objects to enhance your furniture arrangement. This make rooms feel inviting, rather than intimidating. Again, our stager will recommend your home’s aesthetics to help you make the most of what you have and group couches and chairs to ensure optimum traffic flow during showings.
Strive for A Light, Airy, and Neutral Space
Bold colors can turn buyers off. to keep living spaces looking clean and open we suggest off-whites and creams instead. A light neutral paint palette makes it easier for buyers to visualize their own furnishings and art in the home. You can still have pops of bright color, just use them judiciously to set off the rest of the room, like with accent pillows, a throw, or a piece of art. if you’ve recently removed paintings or framed photos from the walls, you may want to refresh the paint to eliminate any shadows. Here are a few other steps you can take to keep things looking crisp and clean.
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Upgrade all the bedding with bright white linens.
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Air out any stuffy rooms by opening the curtains, giving it a thorough dusting, and eliminating any pet odors.
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Consider baking cookies or set out a bowl of fresh fruit before showings, especially second showings. Vanilla-scented candles are another option to create an inviting atmosphere throughout your house. However, avoid sprays as they can give off an overpowering scent that may disagree with some potential buyers.
Don’t be afraid to bring the outdoors inside! Fresh flowers, a selection of thriving plants, or even an elegant arrangement of branches can add interest and make your home feel more alive. For this same reason, we generally recommend you remove most artificial plants.
Pay Close Attention to The Kitchen and Bathrooms
Most luxury homes in the mid-south are expected to have stainless steel appliances and stone countertops. You may not need to completely renovate your kitchen, but consider installing new countertops if necessary, as well as replacing the hardware and any mismatched appliances, painting dark cabinets, and updating the floor. Coordinated fixtures, like all stainless steel, can create a more high-end look than you’ll get with a mix of different finishes. We also recommend you strip any wallpaper or borders.
Bathrooms with a spa-like ambience are a prized amenity among more affluent buyers, so take this into consideration as you plan to put your home on the market. Make sure the master bath in particular has clean cabinetry, updated plumbing and cabinet hardware, and upgraded tile. You can set a relaxing scene for buyers by replacing your personal toiletries with high-end soap, putting out new plush towels in white, and keeping tile and shower doors sparkling clean. A whirlpool bath or new soaking tub can help seal the deal!
One Stop Shopping with The Judy Mac Team of Crye-Leike Realtors
We’re proud to offer sellers what we call one-stop shopping. When you choose our team to sell your home, judy will be the first one to look it over and assess anything that needs to be done before listing. Our stager will then provide support for judy’s assessment by advising you on things like paint, carpet, countertops, hardware, and furniture placement. We’ll also make a list of clutter that should be removed, such as excess furniture, accessories, and personal items. If any construction work is needed, our licensed and bonded “construction guy” is available and known for completing jobs on time - and on budget!
JUdy and our stager will then take a final walk through the home, looking for any last-minute tweaks. Once everything is in tip-top shape, we send our professional photographer out for photos, video, and drone photography where possible. Once measurements have been taken and features notes, we’ll complete the paperwork for the listing to go live on MLS, Judymac.Com , Crye-Leike.Com , Realtor.Com, Zillow, and A Host of Other Websites. Shortly thereafter we will put our marketing program into action including featuring your home on all of our social media platforms.
As you can see, we are incredibly thorough in our approach from start to finish. We have a proven system in place that has served us and our clients well. If you’re thinking about selling your luxury Memphis, Germantown, or Collierville home, get in touch with us today! Together, we can elevate your luxury home listing, helping you get top dollar in the least amount of time, and with the least amount of stress for you and your family.
