Interview with Remax Agent Rob Gadbois

Hi, this is Joe Clapper with Sound Finish and I’m here today with Rob Gadbois with Remax and he’s going to talk to us a little bit about selling your home and how to sell it quicker, for more money. Thank you for coming and meeting with us.

Absolutely.

So Rob, how long have you been a Realtor in the Puget Sound market?

I became a real estate broker in the Greater Puget Sound area towards the end of 2004, so I’m coming up on over 10 years now.

I get asked this question a lot; what is it that really sets the value of a home? And I always pretty much answer the same thing; it’s location, square footage, and condition of the home. What would you say about that?

I think the main focus would be the condition of the home. You only have one shot at a buyer as they walk through the front door, so I always tell my clients it’s like inviting grandparents over for the first time and seeing your new spouse or grandchild or whatnot, so you want everything looking great, and you want things to look very nice. So, like a buyer walking through, you want to have a very good first impression. So that’s my number one focus when working with a seller, is to work with them, getting their home ready to be, you know, tip-top shape when those buyers walk through the front door.

So condition is really at the top of the list. What would you say to the old saying, you have to do carpet and paint before you list your house?

When it comes to carpet and painting in a home that’s going to be put up for sale I always take a look and see what the overall condition of the carpet is. If it’s really beat up, and it’s just, you know, you can tell right away that it’s been there a long time- too many years, I would always take a look at advising my clients to replace the carpets. Depending on the market you’re in, if it’s a huge seller’s market, you might be able to get away with allowing a credit to the buyer for new carpeting. In regards to paint, if there’s little scuff marks that can be touched up here and there, I would just touch them up, but if there’s lots of damage or holes in the wall from pictures and whatnot that have gotten kind of out of hand, I would definitely touch those up and repaint the walls.

Is there ever a time that you would recommend a major remodel before listing your home?

Not generally. I mean, if the cabinets are you know, broken down and they’re just falling apart and look terrible I would obviously recommend that they replace the cabinets, and if the counters are beat up and they’re chipped and they’re damaged then you’re going to want to replace the counter tops.

So what would you say to a homeowner who is looking at using our services before listing their home?

Well I would definitely ask them to have you come out and evaluate their cabinets, take a look at them, because obviously they need to be in good shape, good structural shape, but I know it’s fairly more affordable to have you refinish their cabinets than to have them redo all their cabinets; to pull them out and do a complete remodel.

In your professional opinion, what is the most important room in the home?

Well, the most important room in the house is where most things happen; it’s in the kitchen. It’s the kitchen and across the kitchen table, with family, and gatherings. At my house it’s kids and homework and talking about their day and sports, so it’s definitely the kitchen; it’s the most important part of the house.

In that case, how do our services increase the value of a home?

What it does is it allows that buyer, when they come through that door, to like what they see because not all buyers like what they see when they walk through the front door. So if the cabinets are kind of discolored and beat up, it’s a negative, and they spend most of their time- people spend most of their time in the kitchen. So, what your product does, is it gives the buyer something nice to look at, which is key.

So in closing, what’s the one thing you would like sellers to take home from this conversation?

I think the message should be that people only have one shot at a buyer when they walk through the house, and they want to look as nice as they can. It’s like going on a date, a first date or the prom, you want to look sharp. And you want those buyers to write that offer, you want to give them a good experience in your house, you want your place looking great.

Thank you, Rob, for coming out and meeting with us today and educating us on how to sell our homes.

Well it’s a pleasure.