How to Sell Your Vacation Home from Your Main Home

BRIAN WITT was born and raised in beautiful Bozeman, MT. His family roots extend six generations through Montana soil. With that type of family legacy, he is deeply committed to preserving what makes Montana special while also looking to the future.

As a third-generation Realtor his family has dedicated their lives to serving others. They have persisted through 12 recessions, watched the state’s economy change from a heavy mining/industry and agricultural production, to becoming a prime relocation state and leader in tourism. They not only understand Montana history deeply but, more importantly, know its future better than anyone else.

Their clients have been with them through first home purchases, second home purchases, the purchasing of their first investment properties, development projects, and the passing of real estate assets to second and third generations. They are truly dedicated to serving you for life.

Thanks to the power of the internet, it can be a very simple process to sell your vacation property even when you do not live nearby. You and your Realtor (Call The VanAssche Group in the Phoenix/Scottsdale area) can hop on a phone call or a Zoom chat to discuss all the options of listing your property. Contracts can be signed no matter where you are in the world. The only issue then is the time zone difference!

When you have a local expert’s help, it is simple to sign a contract and get your property listed. What we provide is really a concierge level of service, so you as the seller never have to be onsite.

We handle the cleaning, staging, and marketing, and get the photos taken care of for you. We also set up closing at a title company nearby to where you currently reside… or we can even send out a mobile notary to work with you in the comfort of your own home. We handle all of that!

Before going to market

If major repairs need to be done on a property, it’s always best to have those taken care of before the listing goes live. It generally takes a couple of weeks to list a property using the higher level of marketing you’re reading about in this book, so all repairs can be done concurrently with that.

Otherwise, all the aspects of preparation for listing your property are included in our services.

Pre-inspection?

We recommend that you do hire a home inspector ahead of time, just so there are no surprises. Once we get into a contract with a buyer, things like foundation issues, roofing issues, or mold should never pop up. Those are major deal killers. Most buyers are simply not willing to overlook them.

However, if you as the seller take the opportunity to know about those things in advance, you can mitigate them before they ever become a problem. Get a clean bill of health from a roofing contractor, a mold remediation specialist, or a structural engineer to say that everything is in tip-top shape. Then a buyer won’t have reservations or feel you’re intentionally trying to mislead them.

Once a buyer discovers a major issue that hasn’t been disclosed up front, they will start to look for other issues that might be hidden. But the reverse is also true… when we disclose all of that up front, their confidence goes up and so does the property value.

What’s included?

These are seven primary things we’re going to do for you that you won’t need to:

1. We manage a pre-inspection, which could lead to your ability to make repairs before listing, as mentioned above.
2. We manage the staging of the property, whether vacant or furnished.
3. We manage the photography, which could include video and drone photography.
4. We market the property in multiple ways.
5. We strategically place the home on the market on certain days to ensure your home hits the market with the highest possible demand.
6. We coordinate all property viewings and keep open lines of communication with other agents from the first showing, through the offering process, during the contract contingency periods, and fully through closing. We are excellent communicators and are fully transparent!
7. Our extensive relationships with experts of all types related to home sales help ensure solutions to problems as they arise and a seamless transaction from start to finish.

What to disclose to a buyer

With a second home or vacation property, it’s important to disclose that the home is not your primary residence, or that you may not have visited the property in quite a while. The owner’s Property Disclosure in the state of Montana already has a line for this type of disclosure. It makes the process very simple.

There are certain things above a cosmetic level of defect that a buyer must be made aware of. But if, as we recommend, you hire a home inspector beforehand, you will have already mitigated those items before the property is even listed.

How to maximize the sale price

There are several things you can do to maximize the sale price of a home before it goes to market, including having the interior professionally cleaned and removing all personal photographs.

We help stage your home to make it appear like a Ritz-Carlton level hotel. Anyone who walks into it can envision themselves living in the property. If you have quirky wall colors, those should be replaced with a more neutral tone. If there are major blemishes on a refrigerator, it may be worthwhile to have that item replaced. If hardwood floors show heavy wear, it would be a good idea to have those refinished while we’re working out the listing. However, if you’re working with a concierge-level service like mine, you’re not going to have to do much because we’ll take care of all that for you.

Second, it’s good to see if it’s worth adding any positives to the property before listing. If the home has dated countertops, it may be cost-effective to update those depending on market conditions. A great local agent who knows that market can help you make these decisions.

What to leave behind

Typically items that are bolted to a wall are considered part of the home. So if there’s a family heirloom, for example, that you wish to keep, it’s important to disclose that the item will not be staying in the property.

Essentially you can take whatever you want as long as you properly disclose it up front. A great agent can craft the negotiation in a way that protects you and your assets. This is more relevant in second home deals, as in this type of transaction buyers often make a purchase for a fully furnished property.

If an item is not attached to the wall, your buyer may expect it to not be included in the sales price. As a funny (not-funny) example, we’ve had multimillion-dollar deals fall apart because of a $400 clothes dryer, or come together because the seller was willing to leave a $900 projector. It’s crazy.

We can do whatever is needed, as long as we know and disclose it up front. Many times, for the right price, the seller chooses to just leave all their stuff. This helps a buyer for whom the property will not become a primary residence, because then they don’t have to buy all that extra furniture and decorations. So you as the seller can keep that one painting and great-grandma’s afghan, but include all the rest of your stuff—without needing to pack anything up!

The right agent will be able to assist and handle all of this for you.

The system in action

I recently had a sale that involved both an out-of-state buyer and an out-of-state seller. Because of our highly effective marketing, we ended up with 13 offers—above asking price—which led to a 14% increase in the sales price of the home. Wow! And this client accomplished it without stepping foot on the property.

The seller lived more than a thousand miles away. The property they wanted to sell was a multimillion-dollar home. Due to their massive success in their profession, and the lockdown during the pandemic, their ability to travel to Montana was not possible. The heaviest lifting that was required of them was mailing a key to put in a lock box... We handled everything else for them.

In conclusion, with the power of the internet and a local expert's help, selling a vacation property from a distance can be a simple and stress-free process. The VanAssche Group provides concierge level service, handling everything from pre-inspections, cleaning, staging, marketing, and even closing at a nearby title company. With our expertise and transparent communication, we can help you maximize the sale price of your property and ensure a seamless transaction from start to finish. If you're interested in learning more about how we can help you sell your vacation property, don't hesitate to contact us at 480-588-8288 or email Broker Associate David VanAssche at David@PhoenixAreaHome.com. Let us take the heavy lifting off your shoulders and make the process of selling your property as easy and stress-free as possible.