Prepping Your Pleasanton Home To Sell

Skyrocketing home values have prompted many homeowners to dive into the current sellers’ market, especially in uber-hot areas like the Pleasanton real estate market. And who can blame them? According to the California Association of Realtors, the median price of Pleasanton's new homes for sale is $1.76 million, up 19% over last year. When you add in the facts that inventory is down 19%, homes are selling within a week, and bidding wars are boosting sales 10% over asking prices, you have a very lucrative recipe for success if you are a seller.

But that doesn’t mean you should list your home without strategically prepping it first. Sellers who make that mistake are leaving money on the table. This is particularly true in exclusive areas like Pleasanton real estate. Luxury buyers have very high expectations, and sellers must look beyond the basics to stand out from the competition.

The Fab Four steps to prepping a home for sale are still unmistakably critical:

 

However, savvy sellers often take these concepts further by developing a unique look and feel, or “brand,” for their home and integrating it in any and every way possible. You can design and build your home’s exclusive brand by focusing on the same things national brands do when they want to own the market:

 

Let’s start with developing a brand strategy; then, we’ll get down to the basics.

Any good brand strategy requires thorough research of the competitive landscape and the ability to identify its target market. It is no different when selling a home, especially in Pleasanton, which means diving deep into the Pleasanton real estate market. Look at what other new homes in Pleasanton are listed. What do some homes feature that is similar to your own? What does your home offer that others do not? Focus on the luxury features that make your home stand out from the rest of Pleasanton's new homes for sale. This first research phase should naturally dovetail into the second half of the research: Who is your target market? This question is where an experienced real estate professional can step in to help, but you can access some of this data online. Often, it helps to create an example of your ideal buyer or customer. Try to paint a picture of your perfect buyer or customer as accurately and detailed as possible. How old are they? Are they married? Do they have a family? Where do they work? What is their lifestyle like? Keep these characteristics as you move to the next step, determining your home’s brand.

Here is where you put together the research you completed in step one. Compare the features that make your home stand out from the competition and ask yourself how these would appeal to the ideal buyer/customer profile you created earlier. Tease out the details and get creative. Some possible “brands” could be luxury-executive, understated elegance, family-friendly, or suburban oasis. Once you’ve set a focus and direction for your home’s unique personality, the other steps in branding your home should fall effortlessly into place. However, one word of caution on this step: Remember, you want to create a cohesive look without narrowing your target audience too much. Stay away from themes that might be too focused or turn off potential buyers, like wild colors or themes.

Coming up with a tagline may seem a little silly since you’re not going to be stenciling it onto the walls of your home, but it is an important exercise when you want to fully integrate the branded look of your Pleasanton real estate. Whether you’re selling chocolate bars, soda, a fashion line, or your own home, having a tagline to refer to when planning a look and feel makes the job easier. You may want to write it down next to your ideal buyer/customer profile and keep it in mind when you decide on things like color and staging decor.

Now we are getting down to the basics – decluttering, painting, cleaning, and staging – with one crucial difference: You now already have a clear idea of where you are going, and that integrated cohesiveness will resonate with buyers of Pleasanton real estate.

Experts always recommend this vital first step when preparing a home for sale for one simple reason: You want potential buyers to be able to imagine themselves living in and loving your home. That means it needs to be something of a blank slate. That doesn’t mean plain or boring — quite the contrary. Since you have a planned look for your home now, you should be able to create a space and experience that will immediately click with potential buyers. Attention to detail is vitally important when decluttering and organizing your home. Make sure every space – closets, drawers, shelves, cabinets, cubbies – has been parsed down to the essentials and managed aesthetically. You may even want to spiff things up with some clever storage solutions to increase the livability factor of your home.

 

Painting, deep cleaning, and minor repairs are no-brainers in ensuring your home puts its best foot forward. Neutral colors are eternally in vogue. Don’t forget the exterior of your home as well. Curb appeal is critical, so make sure the exterior is clean and blemish-free. Repair any cracks or imperfections in drives or pavement. Tidy up any plantings. Then, it’s time to make every room sparkle with a deep clean. Don’t forget the windows, and consider power washing the outside walls and pavement to make them look new. Now you are ready to integrate your branded look throughout your home with staging.

Also known as staging, this step is where you refer back to your ideal buyer/customer profile and think about what your home would convey to them. Curate the contents of your home to match this profile, and really think about details that will resonate with buyers. This step is paramount, so you may want to consider hiring a professional staging firm or decorator to help. Or, contact an experienced realtor like Lori Olson, who can help your home’s brand personality shine through in every room. As an expert in high-end Pleasanton real estate, Lori brings extensive knowledge of design, home staging, and marketing to the table.

With a strategically designed and well-thought-out branded look, your home will be ready to sell and undoubtedly stand out from the competition of Pleasanton homes for sale. 

It’s never too early in the process to contact Lori Olson for expert guidance.