How to Get Your Bonita Springs Home Ready to Sell Before You List

The best way to get a Bonita Springs home ready to sell is to price it from current active and pending sales and to have it professionally inspected before you list. Then repair what the inspection finds and stage and style the home and have it photographed by a professional. I call this certified pre-owned. That is my own term and not a formal certification. This guide explains each step and why it leads to stronger offers.

Start With the Numbers: Active and Pending Sales Come First

Pricing comes before everything else. The rate of sale and the current closed sales in close proximity and what is active and pending all matter. Pending sales are the next comparables. Most pending sales close in 30 to 60 days. By the time your home is inspected and repaired and styled and staged and photographed and on the market many of those pending sales will be closed or closing within weeks. That is how they become the next closed sales that buyers and appraisers see.

It is not only appraisers. This is a cash heavy market and buyers have the world at their fingertips. They do their own research and form their own opinions and they can see every closed sale.

Why Old Closed Sales Go Stale

Many sellers feel compelled to dig into closed sales from many months back. A listing date is just a point in time. The further a sale is from the day your home goes on the market the staler it becomes as a guide to your value.

Use the Valuation as a Guideline and Check the Numbers Again Before You List

The steps are flexible. I value the property and estimate the time on market and then use that valuation as a guideline while the home is prepared. If preparation takes more than two weeks I run a full evaluation again. Pending sales may have closed and new properties may have come to market and other listings may have expired. We confirm the numbers are targeted once more before the home goes live.

Get a Pre-Listing Inspection

During preparation I ask sellers to obtain a pre-listing inspection. It helps prepare the home and it also surfaces issues that could come as a complete surprise. Even in the most beautiful home where the owner swears nothing needs to be done sellers often learn to live with something a contract would call a defect.

Florida is the land of rain and sprinkler systems so moisture has many ways to get into a home by accident. Here are a few examples of what an inspection can find.

The Wet Windowsill

Imagine thermal imaging shows a wet windowsill. The cause is a misdirected sprinkler head hitting a wall where the caulk has dried and cracked or gone missing. A handyman can re-caulk and repaint the window. The report can then show that the issue was located and repaired on a given date and by what method. A seller can share that record with a buyer.

The Roof Leak Nobody Knew About

Nobody believes their roof is leaking and there may be no sign of it inside. An inspector who enters the attic may find water rings. A drone flight over the roof may show that something struck the roof or that a vent was not installed correctly. Finding this before you list is far better than finding it during a buyer's inspection. It matters even more during storm season or after a major storm when roofers are busy and in short supply.

The Two-Dollar Fix

Many items are small. On one inspection the summary report listed six items and several were tiny. Some knobs on the roll-down hurricane shutters needed replacing. That was a trip to the hardware store and a couple of dollars and a seller with a screwdriver. Repaired. That is one less thing on the buyer's inspection report.

Repair Now or Disclose Later: The Seller Decides

After the pre-listing inspection the seller has a choice. You can repair the items before you list or you can choose not to repair them and disclose them to a buyer. The inspection is not about avoiding disclosure. It is about preemptive repairs so buyers understand the product they are purchasing and their own inspection comes back clean. If disclosure is required it is made on the seller's disclosure which is an independent document. Ask your attorney how the rules apply to your situation.

Why Buyers Now Buy Homes They Have Not Seen

In recent years buyers have become very confident buying homes without ever walking through them. Some send a friend who lives in town or a trusted real estate advisor to give the home the old-fashioned sniff test. Photos can be deceiving and you cannot see the full level of wear until you visit in person.

Many of these buyers know the community by name already. Picture a buyer who has their heart set on a particular bundled golf community and a particular floor plan. They may have rented there or toured open houses on a past trip or followed listings on their favorite portal since their last visit. They know the values and they are waiting for the right unit to come up. When it does they call their agent and offer on it sight unseen.

This is where a previously inspected home comes into play. A buyer who knows professional eyes have already looked at the home and that the few issues found have been fixed feels more confident. In my experience that produces offers that come in stronger and with better terms and at higher prices.

How an Inspection Removes the Hidden Buyer Tax

When a buyer learns about problems during their own inspection period that is often when they try to back out or take another nibble. A small item on a buyer's report gets taxed in their mind as inconvenience and cost. What would have been an affordable $200 repair becomes a request for one or two thousand dollars. Or they figure that as long as the repair is being made they may as well replace the cabinets. A minor problem gets extrapolated into a kitchen remodel and the seller is punished for it.

It sounds silly in print but it is how buyers think. Even the carpet. Replacing carpet in one bedroom is not a $5,000 job. Yet that is the number that gets floated. Fixing the item first and documenting it takes that argument off the table. I call this the hidden buyer tax and a pre-listing inspection helps you avoid it.

Credits Are Not the Easy Fix They Sound Like

Sellers often say they will just give the buyer a credit. When a mortgage is involved lenders do not like money flowing toward the buyer for mysterious reasons. There are ways to work minor credits but larger ones can make lenders prickly. It is much cleaner to make the repair before the contract than to negotiate around it after.

Staging and Styling Happen in Every Home

Every home gets staged and styled. The only difference is the degree of work needed before the photos are taken. Staging does not necessarily mean a truck backing up with furniture although a seller may choose that. Very often homes here are furnished and convey furnished. Sometimes we eliminate some of the furniture or move it around. We reduce the accessories and personal items.

Every seller gets a ready-made list to help them start staging and styling. Once they are well underway we bring in our own designer if needed to finalize the last few items. Homeowners often say it feels like they rent the house now. That is expected. This is strictly for the photos. We are creating an image that will live on the internet and those photos are the vessel that gets people to cross the threshold. For more ideas see staging your Bonita Springs home.

The Last-Minute Details Before Photos

• Countertops are swept of all items.
• Small mats are removed including welcome mats and bathroom mats and kitchen sink mats and runner rugs.
• Towels and shower curtains may be swapped for crisp white ones.
• A few live plants or a bouquet of palmetto leaves add life and greenery.

It is hard to see in a regular photo why one image looks so much better than another. These small details make rooms appear to double in size optically because less interrupts the flow of the floor and the lines in the wood and the length of a hallway. Colored towels are practical every day because they hide stains. In photos they can darken a room and make it feel sadder and more neutral instead of crisp and bright like Florida.

Professional Photography

You can buy a camera at Costco but that does not make you a real estate photographer. A professional has the best lenses and software and the skill to make photos beautiful inside and to bring out the Florida blue sky outside so you are not looking at a big white square. We are not just selling homes in Southwest Florida. We are selling the Florida dream that many people have worked their whole lives to achieve.

Complete Documents and No Secrets

Every step may sound like something you have read before but the value is in the implementation on the ground in the nooks and crannies of the property. It is the sum of many small parts that makes buyers want to see the home and cross the threshold and offer with confidence. We also provide a great deal of information to buyers and their agents. They often tell us they have never had a transaction where all of the documentation was there including the HOA paperwork and the disclosures. There are no secrets. Buyers understand what they are purchasing and they feel confident. Some agents show our properties over others because they know their buyers will have a world class buying experience.

What Certified Pre-Owned Means

When I say a listing is certified pre-owned I mean the home has been priced with current active and pending sales and inspected and repaired where needed. It has also been staged and styled and professionally photographed before it is activated. It is not an official certification. It is how I describe the standard I hold my listings to.

An Agent Who Has Worked Both Sides Sees What Buyers Will See

Pricing is always paramount but helping buyers understand the merchandise with confidence is even more important. That comes from experience on the listing side and from knowing the buyer side. I have watched inspectors and watched buyers react and worked with buyers long enough to know what they will do. If you want to compare agents on this before you sign see how to interview a listing agent before you sell your Bonita Springs home.

Selling From Out of State or as an Estate?

Many of these steps can be handled for you when you cannot be here. Read how to sell a Bonita Springs home from out of state or as an estate.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does certified pre-owned mean when selling a home?

Certified pre-owned is my own term and not a formal certification. It means the home is priced with current active and pending sales and has had a pre-listing inspection and has been repaired and staged and professionally photographed before it goes on the market.

Should I get a pre-listing inspection before selling in Florida?

I recommend it. Florida homes have many ways for moisture to enter and owners often live with defects they no longer notice. An inspection finds surprises while you still have time to fix them and choose the contractor.

Which sales should I use to price my home?

Start with active and pending sales close to your property and the closed sales from the last few months. Most pending sales close within 30 to 60 days so they become the next closed sales that buyers and appraisers see. Older closed sales get stale the further they are from your listing date.

How long does it take to get a home ready to sell?

It depends on the home. If preparation takes more than two weeks I run the valuation again because pending sales may have closed and new homes may have listed and other listings may have expired.

Do I have to disclose what the inspection finds?

You can repair the items before you list or choose not to repair them and disclose them to a buyer. Repaired items are one less thing on the buyer's own inspection report. If disclosure is required it is made on the seller's disclosure which is a separate document. Ask your attorney how the rules apply to your situation.

What does staging a home involve?

Staging happens in every home and the degree varies. It does not have to mean a truck full of furniture. It can mean removing or moving furniture and reducing accessories and personal items and then styling the home for photos.

Why do buyers ask for credits instead of repairs?

Buyers tend to inflate the cost of small problems they find during their own inspection. A repair that costs a couple of hundred dollars can turn into a request for thousands. Large credits can also complicate a mortgage closing so lenders may push back.

What documents should be ready when a home goes on the market?

Have the HOA paperwork and the seller's disclosure and the inspection summary and any repair records ready. When buyers and their agents can see everything up front there are no surprises and they can offer with confidence.

More Seller Guides

• Why sellers choose me as their Bonita Springs real estate agent
• How to interview a listing agent before you sell
• Selling a Bonita Springs home from out of state or as an estate
• Bonita Springs home selling guide
• Staging your Bonita Springs home
• How to identify your Bonita Springs flood zone
• Request a free home valuation

Ready to get your home certified pre-owned? You can schedule a 15 minute phone or Zoom call or call or text 239-273-7430.

Chris Elizabeth Griffith, The Griffith Group at Downing Frye Realty. Florida real estate license SL676419.