Dear Olivia,
We’re considering selling our home but we are worried that it will sit on the market due to the pandemic. What are buyers looking for in a COVID era home?
Sincerely,
Worried to Sell
It’s completely natural to worry about selling your home and the prospect of it sitting on the market. This happens to sellers whether there’s a pandemic or not!
Of course, selling your home during COVID adds another layer of stress. Fortunately, the market has remained strong throughout the pandemic and home sales haven’t taken a huge hit. There’s always room for improvement, though, and there are certain things that buyers want more now than they did before the pandemic. All that said, here’s a few tips for making your home more attractive during COVID.
You Need Office or Classroom Space
Photo by Roberto Nickson on Unsplash
More people are working from home now, which means that sellers are looking for homes with room to have a home office. Whether that’s a dedicated space (like a spare bedroom) or an area of a larger room (like a family room), buyers need to see that your home can accommodate their work-from-home needs.
Additionally, with many kids doing school from home, you might need to highlight another area that can serve as a home-based online classroom.
Staging can help you accomplish these things without a ton of effort. For example, if you have kids and they have desks in their rooms, stage the desks with a laptop or tablet and school books. This shows potential buyers that there’s space in the kids’ bedrooms to do their studies and do so comfortably.
Find Ways to Separate Spaces
With more people spending more time at home, the need to separate spaces for more privacy (and quiet!) is higher than ever before.
This doesn’t mean that you need to barricade rooms off from the rest of the house, but making distinct areas has been recommended by many real estate professionals.
For example, you might add a barn door to separate the dining room from the kitchen. A quick solution might be adding some kind of screen to separate the home office corner from the rest of the family room.
It seems counterintuitive, but separating spaces can actually make your home feel larger. Buyers will get to experience more distinct areas, which can give the impression that there is more space in the home.
Give Your Backyard an Update
Photo by Shaun Montero on Unsplash
As people spend less time going out and more time at home, they want to have a relaxing outdoor space where they can get out of the house without having to worry about socially distancing or wearing a mask. An outdoor oasis is the perfect solution!
You don’t need to build a brand-new deck or buy expensive patio furniture to give buyers an idea of how relaxing your backyard can be. If you already have outdoor furniture, hose it down and add new cushions to give it new life. Clean up the grill while you’re at it!
Rake the leaves, add mulch to any flower beds, trim the trees and shrubs, and add some solar lights, and you’ll be surprised how much homier your backyard feels.
Again, you don’t have to spend a ton of money making your home more COVID friendly. It’s often a matter of staging to help potential buyers see the value in your home.
If you have other questions about selling your property, don’t hesitate to reach out to me at 307-856-3999!
~Olivia