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Ask Renee | Selling · 6 min read

How to prep your home to sell, in the order that actually pays

By Renee Ziegler · Colorado Legacy Home Team

Sellers usually ask me what they should renovate. Almost always, the answer is: much less than you think, in a very specific order.

First, everything that photographs. Buyers meet your house on a screen before they ever meet it in person, and the photos are what decide whether they come. That means declutter hard: counters, closets, the garage. Then paint anything scuffed, replace burned-out bulbs with matching warm ones, and clean the windows. Cheap, fast, and it changes the first impression more than a new backsplash ever will.

Second, everything a buyer will flag at inspection. A dated but working furnace is fine. A leak under the sink, a cracked window seal, a section of missing grout. Those are the items that turn into a negotiation after you’re already under contract, and you’ll pay more for them then than you would now. I walk the house with sellers and make this list before we ever list.

Third, staging and light. In Colorado, light sells. I’d rather spend money on a photographer who shoots at the right hour and a few pieces of furniture that make rooms read at the right scale than on a full remodel. Empty rooms photograph smaller than furnished ones, which genuinely surprises people.

What I usually talk sellers out of: kitchen and bath remodels done specifically to sell. Unless the kitchen is actively broken or wildly dated for the neighborhood, you rarely get your money back in the sale, and you lose weeks of market time doing it. Buyers discount for a dated kitchen far less than the remodel costs.

One more thing that matters more than any project: pricing at the number that brings the whole buyer pool through the door in the first week. That’s how a Highlands Ranch listing I took recently went under contract in two days with multiple offers. Not luck. Prep and price, in that order.

If you’re moving out of state before the sale, this all still works. I’ve handled prep and vendors for sellers who had already left, coordinating access, work and photos on their behalf. It’s a normal part of the job now.