Selling Your Home while living out-of-state – find a Realtor with Resources

Selling Your Home while living out-of-state – find a Realtor with Resources

It is absolutely possible to sell your home while living out of state. However, if you are leaving your Realtor in charge of preparing your home for sale, find a Realtor with the contacts and resources to get multiple jobs done. Selling your home from out-of-state is much more than finding a Realtor who can get paperwork signed electronically – hear this story!

My Seller’s renter left yesterday – and left his key to my Seller’s home in a lock box I provided him.

Step #1: Empty the property.

We were all a little shocked at the mess we walked in to. We expected some items to be left that we would gather and donate, but that’s not at all what we found. I employed two workers who spent all day bagging up trash and taking it to the curb. Our city will pick up a large load curbside for a charge after an appointment is made – cheaper than multiple trips to the dump.

Every room had stuff remaining, but none as bad as this kitchen. Sadly, all of the food items in the pantry were expired, so off to the trash pile it went. We did gather a few dishes and kitchen appliances for donation.

Step #2: Make repairs to the property.

Because we want to remove as many Buyer’s objections as possible BEFORE we put a home on the market, we are going to make a few repairs. There is a crack above the living room doorway that is not structural, but we will float it out and repaint the entire room. Painting, by the way, is one of the least expensive things to do that will add value and freshness to your midtown Tulsa home for sale. Corey is making those repairs as I type.

Step #3: Clean, clean and clean again.

Clean homes sell, while dirty ones sit. Scrub the baseboards, clean the inside of the refrigerator, dust all of the ceiling fans, remove cob webs, make the glass windows shine! Especially when selling a vacant home, every nook and cranny needs to look and smell CLEAN! Scott is scheduled to clean tomorrow.

Step #4: Landscape.

And pay particular attention to the front porch area where a Buyer will wait for his or her Realtor to retrieve the key from the lock box and open the front door. Define landscape beds, trim bushes, pull weeds – make everything as neat and orderly as possible. In this particular home that’s been occupied by a renter, we noticed the wrought iron railing surrounding the front porch has chipped white paint. What a horrible impression that will make! So, when Toni finishes the landscaping, she’ll scrub and repaint the railing!

And we’re going to dress up the patio table with a bright red umbrella (red always photographs well), and there’s a bird bath that will make one of the gardens look a little softer. Several Terra cotta planters will be filled with colorful annuals. Anything we can do to make the house look more inviting and appealing is a plus!

Step #5: Ready the interior.

In this case, the renters were not too kind to the carpet. Cleaning it is out of the question, so we’ve already measured for new carpet, which will be installed Saturday by Janie’s crew. We may need to have some drapes dry cleaned also, but between fresh paint and a clean house, we should be ready to go once the carpet is installed.

Your Realtor’s Role while you are selling from out-of-state

So far, I have communicated with the renter, found people to load up trash and debris left in the house, hired and scheduled my repairman, hired and scheduled my house cleaner and landscape artist, and lastly, hired and scheduled the carpet installers. I am a Realtor – not a Contractor. Thankfully I have good contacts and resources who have worked with me on many homes over the years – I trust them all explicitly and know the quality of their work will exceed expectations.

But not all Realtors® will be willing to take on this much additional work. Make sure you discuss what work may need to be done and that your representative has the initiative, ability and willingness to complete all required tasks.

I believe after the carpet is installed, we will be ready for Leslie, our professional photographer. Once those photos are available, I’ll add them to this blog post so you can see the before and after!

If you are selling a home from out-of-state, find a Realtor who specializes in your geographic area (midtown Tulsa in this case), AND locate a Realtor with resources and contacts who can coordinate work to be done.

I am happy to visit with you about selling your midtown home – call me! 918-852-5036

Content written and published by Lori Cain.

Lori Cain is a residential Realtor with eXp Realty serving the greater Tulsa Oklahoma area. Call 918-852-5036. eXp Realty is the Agent-Owned Cloud Brokerage®!