By Trish Mainey from West Coast Realty of Venice
Retiring? Not me. Retreading is more like it! After 35 years in a very detail-oriented, environmental career, I still needed to feed the beast. What pushes all my buttons until I’m ready to lay down? Providing a full-service real estate option for my clients.
I had a dream of developing a career that would allow for versatility and a steady income. Opening a new division of our family’s landscaping and caretaking company that my husband established 35 years ago, called Details by Trish, gives me an opportunity to work on Market Ready jobs. I became a Realtor at the same time with encouragement from the broker that sold my home a few years ago. She remains my broker and one of my biggest fans. Today, five years later, when I’m not selling and showing and writing contracts, I’m cleaning and packing and painting! I help people get the absolute most out of their investment.
For home sellers, being Market Ready is so important. Buyers go in and out of so many homes, but they get a certain feeling when they open the front door of “the home”. The one that they can’t forget at the end of the day. As a seller, you want it to be your house that gives them that feeling.
Detailed Assessment
Getting ready to put your home on the market should begin with a detailed assessment of your existing environment. This is the very heart of the value that a good realtor should bring to their clients.
Personally, our mission is to treat everyone like family. We are a full-service real estate company with licensed agent realtor knowledge and a finger on the pulse of local real estate market. We can share what’s on the market that will be competing with their home and even arrange showings of those listings on the market around them to have first-hand exposure as their home is prepared.
This is a lifetime investment and getting the most for their home is the goal. Market ready can be as simple as deep cleaning and de-cluttering, a new gorgeous urn at the front door, and a welcome mat. Or perhaps to get the highest dollar, they may need some minor home repairs and a paint job. Together we can assess the situation and develop a realistic, cost effective plan.
4 Steps to being Market Ready
These tips come from my experience over the last 5 years, not only working with families selling their own homes, but with families who have gone through the process of estate management and selling a loved one’s home.
- Declutter and Pack
Packing can be a daunting task! Choosing what to keep and what to give away is difficult. Having a trusted professional there to help and give an objective opinion can take away some of the stress. Our teams specialize in keeping years of important keepsakes and memories safe.
Packing for relocation or arranging movers is the next step. It’s like having a family member there to help. We can get a client through long distance move management and represent families on-sight.
- Cleaning and Painting
We operate full-service interior and exterior cleaning teams. We deep clean and shine like we are preparing for a military inspection! Full-service landscaping, pressure cleaning, flower urns, and painting services are on the menu. My favorite is painting a garage floor. It speaks volumes. I often hear people say, “Wow this place is immaculate…look at the garage floor!”
- Staging
Each situation is different, but experience shows us that a “staged” home seems to sell quicker and tends to bring higher offers. If furniture is there, you might simply minimize the personal items and declutter a bit. An empty house can be like an empty canvas for a prospective buyer. Minimal staging at the entrance or the kitchen and baths can be adequate. Other homes will need furniture and décor to accentuate the layout.
- Photography
Professional photographs are the key to selling real estate in today’s online marketplace. Aerial photography and local scenes enhance property marketing material. Recent statistics from My Florida Regional MLS show that great photos can increase your sales price by up to 3.5%.
Photographing for insurance documentation can be a valuable tool as well. Photographs and video conferencing when a seller cannot be in the area is an added value we offer. Remote cameras can be made available during an estate packing making it easy for a client to log on and feel like they are right there with us.
There are so many resources available, you can make it a point to develop a team around you that you can trust. Focus on getting your home “Market Ready” and you’ll be moving on before you know it!
Trish Mainey – REALTOR®
Details by Trish – Providing extended real estate services including painting, de-cluttering, cleaning, staging, landscape renovation, estate packing and shipping, photographic documentation, and more.
Cell: 941-468-0579
West Coast Realty of Venice
240 West Tampa Ave.
Venice, FL 34285
https://www.westcoastrealtyofvenice.com/agent/trish-mainey/
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