Thursday, December 6, 2012

Tips For Selling a Palo Alto Home in the Rain


The raining season is starting. If you are thinking of selling your Palo Alto home in the rainy season (Dec-March) it really is a good idea. There are many reasons that it is great to sell early in the season rather than waiting until the spring to sell your Palo Alto home.
1. School registration opens at the end of January. Since some of the elementary schools have more registrants than they have places, if you do not register your child when registration first opens they may be sent to a school in a different Palo Alto neighborhood. Many buyers want the school issue settled and do not want to wait until Aug. to find out where their children will be.
2. If a buyer sees your Palo Alto home for sale when there has been 6 inches of rain in the last week they will feel more confident that the roof doesn't leak and the crawl space is not flooded and will be more likely to offer with fewer contingencies.
3. Open houses are a major Palo Alto form of entertainment. If it is raining the serious buyers will not be deterred from coming to see it, but your nosey neighbors will.
4. There is less competition from other homes in the market in Palo Alto in Jan and Feb than in April or May.
There are some things you can do to make sure your home shows well even on dark, raining days.
Selling a Palo Alto Home
1. Keep the lights on when selling your Palo Alto home, whether you are home or not. This is not very environmentally sound, but do it.
2. Keep the heat on when you are selling your Palo Alto home. Make your visitors feel warm and cozy.
3. Do not use the fireplace when selling your Palo Alto home. Many buyers and their children could be allergic to the smoke. If you have a gas fireplace use it, and if not you might think about getting a portable electric fireplace to make the house seem cozier.
4. Make sure you have plenty of mats for people to wipe their feet when you sell your Palo Alto home. You are going to get some mud and dirt in the house no matter what you do, so be prepared to do extra mopping and have plenty of Resolve carpet cleaner on hand.
5. When selling a Palo Alto home in the rain put out fresh flowers. I know they cost more in the winter, but the effect will really brighten up the house.
So open the umbrella and get your Palo Alto home on the market so you can sell it and get a jump on the competition.
If you have any questions about selling a home in Palo Alto please feel free to contact me.
Marcy Moyer
marcy@marcymoyer.com
650-619-9285
D.R.E. 01191194

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