Selling Tips

Selling Real Estate in Madison & South Central Wisconsin: Property Selling Tips

Found 279 blog entries about Selling Tips.

You don't need to substantially remodel your home in order to prepare for a successful sale. But you can create instant value by addressing the simple projects that eliminate common buyer objections. 

home improvement goals 

Here are a few common buyer objections that all come with simple fixes:

1) Dated wallpaper and paint colors

2) Dated light fixtures

3) Dated cabinet hardware 

4) Old bathroom mirrors and medicine cabinets

5) Soiled, worn, or dated flooring 

6) Old curtains and blinds 

7) Soiled and dirty siding 

8) Weeds and overgrown shrubs in the yard

Whether you plan to move in the near future or stay in your home for years to come, we're happy to help you with any type of home improvement project -- and refer you to reputable

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Recently we had the pleasure of visiting a new client for a staging and cosmetics consultation. Our visit included a color consultant, a home stager, a handyman, and two agents from our team. And it was a wonderfully productive meeting. We identified painting projects, chose paint colors, picked out light fixtures, and prioritized a few home repairs. And of course, we scoped out our staging plan. 

We're excited to help our client transform her home in the weeks ahead. This one is gonna be a lot of fun...

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Done the right way, the best home improvement projects offer a 300 to 500 percent return on investment, and with relatively little up-front cost. This has been our experience, over and over again, with dozens and dozens of clients. 

simple home improvement projects

Which projects offer the biggest impact?

Usually it's the simple, low-cost projects like painting, flooring, lighting, window treatments, and cabinet hardware. Then add in a little staging and a little art, and you'll feel like you live in a brand new home. 

Would you like a complimentary cosmetics consultation for your own home? We'd love to be a resource for you and help you make the most of your investment. Contact your preferred Mad City Dream Homes realtor to schedule your own consultation. 

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Are you looking to add instant value to your home and without breaking the bank? A fresh coat of paint applied by a skilled contractor always offers a great return on investment. Call us for a referral to a reputable painter. We'd love to help you make the right connection.  

10 high value painting projects

Our top 10 ways to improve your home's value with paint

Here are 10 ways a skilled painter can help you prepare for a successful sale and maximize your return on investment. 

  1. Replace wallpaper with a fresh coat of neutral paint.
  2. Replace bold colors with neutral colors for more mass appeal. 
  3. Repair surface cracks and holes in plaster and drywall.  
  4. Touch-up walls with matching paint. 
  5. Refresh moisture-stained windows and window sills. 
  6. Touch-up doors,
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What are the keys to a successful negotiation? Here are our tried and true philosophies for negotiating a great price and great terms on the sale of your home. 

Offer Negotiation - Mad City Dream Homes 

Our six negotiation tips for sellers

1) Create a beautiful real estate listing. 

One of our first goals early on in the listing process is to create a solid partnership between you, our stager, our photographers, and our creative team. Working together, we create a beautiful real estate listing with eye-popping photos and plenty of marketing materials which highlight the benefits of your home. Beautiful listings receive more online interest, more showings, and more offers - all of which give you more leverage when it's time to negotiate. 

2) Ensure your listing receives full

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For many of us the holiday season is a time for reflection and resolutions. It's also the season when we start making our homeownership plans for the coming year.

2022 real estate dream home

What are your real estate goals for 2024?

Do any of these goals speak to you? 

#1) You have some home improvement projects in mind and you need recommendations for reputable contractors. You'd also like some insight into which home improvement projects offer the best return on investment.

#2) You've been dreaming of a new home and you need some guidance on how to make it happen. Inventory is tight right now, and you need help finding the home that's the right fit for your lifestyle and your stage of life.

#3) You'd like to meet with an expert about your home's current market

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For many of us, the approaching winter season invites reflection and celebration. Shorter days naturally create breathing room in our social calendar and encourage us to take inventory of our past gratitudes, future hopes, and issues deferred. We look inward, but we also look around homes: 

 “I’m happy we finished the basement; Packer parties have been so much fun. How much value did we add to our home?” 

“I wonder what it would cost to build that third garage stall now that our son is driving.” 

“Would we feel safer if all the kids were sleeping on the same level as us?”

“Where will mom stay if she does end up moving in with us after all?” 

“The deck was chipping a lot this summer. How much will it cost to repaint it come spring?”  

Living Room Staged by Mad City Dream Homes

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An effective negotiation isn't about winning and losing. It's about coming to an agreement that all parties can support.

But far too often a win-at-all-costs mentality ends up with both parties in a stalemate, and missed opportunity for everyone. Too many buyers and sellers fail to connect because they can't agree on how to address minor differences. 

There is a better way. By opening the lines of communication, seeking first to understand, throwing in a little sugar, and sprinkling in a little conversation, we create the conditions for a win-win agreement. 

Our 4 fundamentals for effective negotiation: 

Open the lines of communication: The more we communicate with the other party, and encourage communication in return, the more likely we'll

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Approached with skill and care, some home improvement projects always provide a great return on investment. Here are the 5 projects that are at the top of our home improvement list. 

top 5 home improvement projects

Our top 5 home improvement projects

#1) Fresh paint. It's amazing what the right color and a fresh coat of paint can do to transform a room, and at such a low cost. 

#2) New lighting. Replacing a bulky and dated fixture with one that is sleek and modern offers another quick win. 

#3) Cabinet hardware. Updating cabinets with new hardware is an easy and affordable way to give your kitchen or bathroom a fresh new look. 

#4) Window treatments. Replacing, or simply removing, dated curtains and blinds is addition by subtraction. 

#5) Flooring. Replacing dated

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selling a home as a team effortRecently we helped our client sell his family's longtime home on the westside of Madison. This was a unique sale, because our client lived outside of the area, and the home needed some attention before it went on the market. 

So Mad City Dream Homes stepped in as the project manager and oversaw all of the work that would benefit the sale. In all, we contacted and coordinated work with 9 different contractors who worked on projects that included plumbing, electrical, chimney, gutter, landscaping, and a handful of cosmetic updates. 

In the end, our client closed with a fast and full-price offer, thanks in part to the work of so many excellent contractors. 

Whether you need nine contractors for your own home or only one, we're happy to help you make

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