My clients were recently faced with the challenge of placing their parents in an assisted living facility and selling their home.  This is how we did it, step by step, in seven days. (From the time we listed it!)

1.     This is the most important part.  They moved their folks into the assisted living facility before they even talked about selling the house.  Having your house on the market is stressful for anyone, but there is nothing more distressing for elderly sellers than having strangers tromp through their house day in and day out.

2.     We set a budget of $15,000 for improvements that would give the best return.  This included: paint, refinishing hardwood floors, new sink and counter tops in the kitchen, some new lighting fixtures, and a ton of yard work.

3.     After the work was done, I brought in furniture, artwork,and accessories and then staged the living daylights out of it!

4.     Instead of using my traditional real estate sign, I had a custom sign made that mimicked my flyer.  On Sunday afternoon, I had over 200 people come through my open house.  By Sunday night, we had a full price offer and we closed in 30 days.

 Before                                                         After

The funky Euro style laminate cabinetry which had been sponge painted was transformed by painting out the entire cabinet with Latte by Restoration Hardware.

The biggest improvement here was painting out the fireplace. Lightening up the drab green wall color paint helped to wake up the entire room.

Again, paint was the hero for this little bathroom.

If you’d like to sell your parent’s home in seven days, give me a call! 

The Better it Looks…The Better it Sells! 

Susan@SusanPeters.com

206.781.1724

www.SellingYourParentsHome.com

This has been a process of discovery regarding how we all go through the difficult process of what to do when one or more of our loved ones reaches that point in life where living in their home is no longer a safe option for them. 

I hope you will find the answers to many of the overwhelming and often confusing questions that most of us face when we finally need to help our parents through this transition to a different lifestyle.  I’ll continue to add more resources and help as I move ahead.

I welcome any suggestions about what more I can add to help others who are facing this or a similar situation.  Thanks for dropping by!

Susan Peters

Proudly served our country

My Dad, Leslie Hilton Shadwell, was born in 1922 at the beginning of the Roaring Twenties and came of age during the great Depression. The last of six children, he was what was affectionately known as a “change of life baby:” Well loved and yet never spoiled. A classic Libra, he was slow to anger, quick to forgive, unassuming and his word was his bond.

Will Rogers may have “never met a man he didn’t like” but I can honestly say that I never met a man, woman or child who didn’t like my Dad. Everyone was drawn in by his quiet intelligence and delighted by his dry wit.

At Dad’s funeral many people were surprised to learn that he was a Purple Heart recipient for injuries received during the invasion of Iwo Jima.

Although he had every right to be proud of this service to his country he would be the last one to tell you about it.

I miss him every single day.

This is the story of 3 identical town homes: same floor plan, same square footage, same condition, same price; all on the market during the same three-month period.   Take a look at Town home #3.  If this doesn’t convince you that staging works – nothing will!!  For the full story and photos, click to download a PDF.

Townhome 1: This town home was vacant and un-staged. It sat on the market over three months and sold for $429,500 ($20,000 less than Susan’s Listing).

Townhome 1 – Unstaged

Townhome 2: Town home #2 was occupied and not professionally staged. It was sold for $15,000 less after being on the market for over 60 days.

Townhome #2 – Occupied and unstaged

Townhome 3: This town home was staged and listed by Susan & Tim the weekend before Thanksgiving. It sold for full price ($449,950) within 3 days, and closed within less than a month.

Townhome #3 - Staged and sold!

It was there all the time hiding under 15 years of living. Ten days after we listed it, the buyers found it too. My clients also spent about 15k getting their home in market ready condition, but it payed off. Theirs was the only property in Ballard that sold in the 400-450k range during the entire month of December. Using a talented photographer didn’t hurt either.  

Before Professional Staging and Photography

After Professional Staging and Photography