COVID-19 has changed the real estate landscape in many ways—including shifting buyer priorities.
But what, exactly, are buyers looking for in today's market?
A recent article from realtor.com outlined the home upgrades buyers are looking for during the COVID-19 pandemic, including:
An appraisal is an important part of the home selling process; you want your appraisal to accurately reflect your home's value and your listing price. But if your home appraisal comes in lower than expected, it could cause issues with your home sale and put the deal at risk.
Which is why, as a seller, you want to do everything you can to get your home ready for the appraisal. But what projects should you be focusing on?
A recent article from Forbes covered the home projects sellers should tackle before their appraisal, including:
When it comes to home renovations, most homeowners think they need to go big by doing things like renovating a bathroom, finishing a basement, or adding new appliances to a kitchen. But if you don't have a lot of money to invest, the best thing you can do? Paint your door.
According to the 2018 Zillow Paint Color Survey, painting the door black can increase the sale price of the typical US home by 2.9%. That might not seem like much, but when you look at the numbers, it's astronomical.
Here's what it looks like in action: at Home Depot, you can get a quart of black paint for $32.98, more than enough to paint your front door. According to

It's one of the most common issues real estate agents deal with, and help homeowners understand.
Problem is… many homeowners don't necessarily see it as agents trying to help them, so much as convince them to do something they don't want to do.
Naturally, you want as much as you can get for your home. And, you'll certainly have your own opinion on the value of your home. You're totally entitled to your opinion. And it's totally your call to ignore the agent's advice, and list your house for as much as you like… if the agent is still willing to work with you.
But if the agent is not wil...
You want to hire the best agent when you sell your house.
You see real estate agent "John Listalots" all over town. His signs are everywhere. So, you figure he must be a great agent.
It seems like he sells almost everything in town, and you figure that he probably "has all the buyers".
From an outsider's point of view, this makes sense…
What better way to gauge and choose the best agent to list and sell your home?
You have the evidence in front of your eyes. So many other people have chosen him to sell their home, how could it not be true?
Before we get into the three reasons why you shouldn't just hire the agent with all the signs around town, there's something you should know.
Very few real estate agents do tons of business. In any given area, there's always an agent or two who seem to do all of the business.
But that doesn't mean that the few agents who do most of the business...