The work that sets your price happens years before you list

Most owners start preparing about ninety days before they list. By then the useful window has closed.

Ninety days is enough time to paint, declutter and take good photographs. It is not enough time to change anything that meaningfully moves the price, because the things that move the price are slow.

WHY THE TIMING IS WHAT IT IS

The items buyers pay for are the structural ones. A roof with life in it. Impact glass. Systems that are not about to fail. Those are permitting decisions and contractor schedules, not weekend projects, and in this county both take longer than you expect.

Do them under pressure, ninety days out, and you pay a premium for speed and you get whatever is available rather than what is right.

Do them two years out and they are simply maintenance. Same work, considerably less money, and you get to live with the result for a while.

WHAT THAT GAP IS WORTH

In Poinsettia Heights, homes sold anywhere from $242 to $882 a square foot over the last eighteen months on the same streets. Condition is the largest single driver of where a house lands in that range.

The difference between the lower quartile at $448 and the upper at $614 is not a rounding error. On a 1,700 foot house it is well over a quarter of a million dollars, and it was decided long before anyone took a photograph.

A ROUGH ORDER OF OPERATIONS

Two years out. Deal with the roof and the glass if either is near end of life. Get the permits closed properly, because open permits surface at the worst possible moment.

One year out. Systems and anything a home inspector will flag. This is also when to stop spending on anything cosmetic that you would not enjoy yourself, because the return is not there.

Six months out. Paint, light, landscaping to tidy. Not elaborate. Tidy.

Ninety days out. Photographs, pricing, and going to market. If the earlier steps happened, this part is straightforward.

WHAT NOT TO DO

Do not renovate the kitchen because you are selling. If you want a new kitchen, have one and enjoy it for a few years. Doing it purely for resale rarely returns what it costs.

IF YOU WANT THE VERSION FOR YOUR HOUSE

The order above is general. The version for your address is not, and it is short, usually two or three items. Ask and I will write it out.

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