If you haven’t picked up on it yet, golf uses many avion terms: turkey, eagle and now quail. Possibly because a perfect shot can have a ball flying beautifully and gracefully through the air just like a wild, free bird. Yet, quails are not known for their high-flying and graceful antics; in fact, they tend to fly lower to the ground. When a golfer hits a shot that has a low trajectory this is known as “quail high.” Sure, there is sometimes a strategy to this shot but sometimes it is done purely by accident. If done on purpose, a strategy could be to keep a long, low trajectory to beat environmental factors like windiness on the course or keeping a shot low under a tree limb.
This strategy, while not as picturesque as a high-flying ball through the air, is still effective. Like a ‘quail high’ in golf, a good real estate agent is a wonderful resource for little-known strategies to make your home selling process a bit easier. Here are a few of the many ways Doug can craft a quail high for your home selling journey.
Clean-Up or Moving
Some sellers have the opportunity to totally move out of the house they are selling when they put it on the market. Whether the sellers have decided to rent again, stay with family, or live in a brand new house, having an empty house has its perks. For example, if the home needed to be painted or recarpeted before showings start then this is so much easier without furniture in the way. Moving out also allows the empty home to become a blank canvas for any potential buyers who come in. Instead of seeing your guest room complete with a sleigh bed, a potential buyer may come into this now empty room and see the home office where they will write the next great American novel. If this is an option for you, it’s good to consider it.
Staging
While an empty house may be a great way to show a home to potential buyers, this is just totally unrealistic for some people and this is acceptable as well. Some buyers like to come in and see a home that is lived in. Some buyers lack imagination as to how their furniture might fit in a space. Of course by the time you are preparing for showings, your home will be cleaned and ready for presentation. Your home will be more clean and organized than it usually is so don’t worry about piles of laundry on the floor because it will have been cleaned up by the time potential buyers see the home. Then again, if there is a last minute showing and you have to leave the house while laundry is on the floor a serious buyer really will not care anyway as they are more concerned with number of bedrooms and if they can hear any traffic from the Master bedroom.
Decide what you will and won’t attend to
When you’re putting your home on the market, you may already have an idea of what potential buyers will ask you to fix or change. It is wise to look at your house with “buyer’s eyes” and it may be worthwhile to have a running tally or amount of things that you would be in agreement to fix. If the answer is zero, that is an acceptable decision as well but being prepared with that number upfront is helpful especially when your realtor gets to the point of going back and forth with the buyers regarding terms.
When you’re ready to list your home, contact me at (720) 323-4176, I’d love the chance to help caddy your home selling journey!
This post is part of an ongoing series where we talk about my two favorite things: golf and real estate! Stay tuned for more golf-themed posts as we go through the ABC’s of real estate and provide helpful tips for home buyers and sellers alike.
