Sellers usually call me a few weeks before they want to list. The best ones call a few months before. Either way, here is what we go through.
1. Walk the house with me
Before you spend a dollar, I walk every room and the exterior with you and give you a prioritized list. It’s usually shorter and cheaper than you expect. Buyers notice paint, light, clutter, smells, floors, the front door and the yard. They rarely notice the things owners obsess over.
2. Do the high-return work
Declutter and depersonalize (rent a storage unit — it’s worth it). Neutral paint where colors are dated. Fix the small stuff: dripping faucets, cracked outlet covers, sticking doors, burned-out bulbs. Deep clean, including windows. Landscaping: mulch, trim, edge, flowers in season. Lighting: brighter bulbs, updated fixtures where they date the house.
3. Skip the low-return work
Full kitchen and bath remodels, finishing a basement, replacing all the windows, big additions. These rarely return their cost at sale in this market. Targeted updates almost always beat major projects.
4. Consider Compass Concierge
For eligible sellers, Compass Concierge can fund painting, flooring, staging, landscaping and repairs up front, with repayment at closing. It lets sellers do the right prep without writing checks first.
5. Get the inspection items ahead of the buyer
A pre-listing inspection is optional but often smart, especially on older Denver homes: sewer scope, roof, furnace, electrical panel, radon. Knowing what a buyer’s inspector will find lets you fix it, price it in or disclose it — on your terms.
6. Gather your documents
Permits for past work, HOA documents, utility history, appliance manuals, survey if you have one, well and septic records in the foothills, warranties. Buyers and their agents ask; having answers builds confidence.
7. Understand disclosure
Colorado requires sellers to disclose known material defects on the Seller’s Property Disclosure. Disclose honestly and completely — it protects you. Questions about legal obligations go to an attorney.
8. Price with data, not hope
I build pricing from the most recent comparable sales in your specific sub-market, adjusted for condition and features, and layered against what’s currently active — because your competition is what’s on the market now. Then we talk honestly about the price that creates competition versus the one that creates silence.
9. Plan the launch
Photography and video after staging, a Coming Soon window where it makes sense, a launch date timed to the week and season, and a marketing plan that keeps working after day one. The whole process is on my sellers page.
10. Decide your timing
Denver’s market has seasonal rhythms — spring and early summer are typically the most active — but the right timing depends on your situation, the sub-market and the competition. We’ll talk it through.
Ready? Start with a home valuation.