Preparing your home for sale

It is already February, and in many areas, including our San Mateo Coastside, the biggest market surge is in the spring. This means spring cleaning; before you put your house on the market.

Do I have to clean and prepare my house for sale, I live in a clean way, can't I just sell it?

The answer is you can sell any house in any condition, but most sellers, those who have the time and energy, and who want to squeeze the highest dollar they can out of their house, need to prepare the house.

Preparation comes in a couple of ways, fixing all of those

honey-dos

, getting a home inspector to examine the house and take care of some if not all of the simple repairs recommended in the report.

There is also the question of a pest report. I am nervous to tell you that even if you firmly believe you have no pest or dry-rot issues in your home, you may be wrong. Pest control inspections, include all wood destroying issues, so not only are we talking wood boring beetles, carpenter ants, dry-wood termites, and damp wood termites, to name a few, there is also the issue of dry rot from water damage, including areas such as door jams, incorrectly installed windows, sliding doors, water damage in the bathroom, near showers, toilets, and under sink leaks.

There are a couple of trends in this market worth noting: One is pre-inspection, paid for by the seller, and thus giving the seller a chance to study the problem. The seller may choose to provide a

clearance

, meaning the seller has the pest company repairs all of the damage, and warranties the house as free of infestation for one year, or the seller merely provides the report to the buyers, pre-offer, so they can determine whether they wish to receive a clearance, or simply write an

as-is

offer. Because of all of the as-is type offers sailing around this fast paced market, some sellers are opting to only provide the home inspection, and not the more specific pest inspection. Although this method of saving money is working in this seller's market, I do not recommend it in a more balanced market. ...and don't forget colorful plants, inside and outside when you stage your home for market.