Selling Your Home Next Winter? Do This One Thing Now

8/15/2017

Quick, grab the camera and take some photos of your home and yard, right now, when everything is colorful, robust and beautiful.
You may need those photos if you decide to sell your house in winter or spring when the color is gone and vegetation gives up looking like anything.

Nice plant. Not for real estate

Cape Cod, as the rest of the northeast and midwest, looks drastically different when plants die back to the ground at the first hard frost, usually in October. For the six months after that, potentially half the time when new inventory of homes hit the market, landscapes lack hope. Most important, potential buyers have no idea what your place looks like when the yard is at it's peak. Heck, by March, I don't remember what my own yard looks like in summer, and I planted all of it.

To help yourself with a faster sale, potentially for a little more money, take wide shots of the house and yard right now, with everything bloomed and happy. Remember to avoid taking close-ups of the plants themselves. You're not creating a plant catalogue. It's real estate.

Buyers want to know how your shrubs and flowers frame the home. They want to see where the shade of the trees provide relief from the sun. They want to check out the condition of the lawn to know if the irrigation system posted on the listing actually does its job.

Plus, a yard that's well cared for further reinforces that the entire property is loved, giving buyers greater confidence that this place is worth the asking price.

Right

Wrong

Right

Your photos won't replace the professional images your realtor's team takes when the home is getting ready for market because that could have a negative effect. When all the new inventory has snow on the ground, a cover photo of a yard in full bloom might suggest this listing isn't new at all, but one that's been on the market since last summer!

Your realtor will simply use yours as additional images at the end of the online photo roll-- usually 25 to 35 photos in all.

And while we're at it, let me say once again that on Cape Cod at least, listing inventory is at historically low levels and buyers are eager to spend. Contact me for a marketing strategy any time. It's free. And it's my pleasure.