15 Things I Would Do Before Selling a Summit County Property

By Tucker Zimmerman, Slifer Smith & Frampton Real Estate

If I were getting ready to sell my own property in Summit County, I wouldn't start with a list price or a sign in the yard. I'd start by looking for objections.

What is a buyer going to notice? What are they going to question? What might show up during inspection? What could make them choose another property instead?

That's really the point of good pre-listing preparation: remove as many objections as you reasonably can before buyers ever have a chance to make them.

That doesn't mean remodeling everything in sight. In fact, one of the biggest mistakes sellers make is spending money on projects that aren't going to come back to them in the sale. Sometimes a professional cleaning, a few minor repairs and $300 at Target will do more for you than a major renovation.

And sometimes the smartest preparation has nothing to do with the physical property. It might mean waiting a few months to sell because you're about to compete against a pile of similar properties.

Whether you're selling a condo, townhome or single-family home, these are 15 things I would consider before putting a Summit County property on the market.

1. Assess the market before deciding when to sell

People often ask me for the best time of year to sell in Summit County.

There are seasonal patterns, but I think there's a better question:

What will I be competing against if I list right now?

I recently received a call from an owner considering selling a two-bedroom condo near Lake Dillon in Frisco. I pulled up the market while we were talking.

There were 34 two-bedroom condos for sale in Frisco. Five were in the Lake Dillon area alone, and four of those five had garages.

His condo doesn't have a garage.

If we put his property on the market right now, buyers have a lot of alternatives, and several of the most directly comparable properties have a feature his doesn't. He's probably going to get creamed on price.

So I told him I wouldn't sell it right now.

I'd rather consider bringing it to market in the fall or spring when there's likely to be less competing inventory.

Could I use another listing today? Of course. But that wouldn't necessarily serve his best interest.

The same principle applies beyond condos. If you're selling a $4 million home and yours is the only property offering a particular combination of location, views and features, the amount of competition may matter less. If there are six similar homes competing for the same buyer, it can matter enormously.

2. Figure out what you're actually selling

Before I decide how to market a property, I want to answer one question:

Why is someone going to choose this property instead of the alternatives?

Maybe it's an incredible mountain view. Maybe it's a two-car garage, ski access, walkability to Main Street, main-floor living, an exceptional remodel or a great piece of land.

Sometimes it's less obvious. Maybe the floor plan works particularly well for two families. Maybe the HOA is unusually well run. Maybe the property has outdoor space that's difficult to find in its price range.

Whatever it is, identify it.

That should influence how you prepare the property, which photographs lead the listing, what the marketing emphasizes and ultimately how the property is positioned.

You're not just selling bedrooms, bathrooms and square footage. You're giving someone a reason to choose your property over everything else they could buy for the same money.

3. Declutter and depersonalize

You don't need to turn your home into a sterile hotel room, but buyers need to see the property instead of everything you've accumulated inside it.

Clear the counters. Thin out the closets. Get extra furniture out of small rooms. Clean up the garage. Take some of the family photos off the walls.

And you may think your crochet is nice. It's time to put it in storage.

The goal isn't to eliminate every sign that someone lives there. It's to make rooms feel cleaner and larger and make it easier for buyers to picture themselves in the property.

Second homes can be particularly guilty of this. It's amazing how much stuff accumulates after years of ski weekends, holidays and family vacations.

4. Clean it better than you think you need to

Every listing I take receives professional cleaning before photography.

There's a reason for that.

A property can be generally clean and still not be ready to sell. Buyers notice dirty baseboards, dusty light fixtures, fingerprints on appliances, grimy showers and windows that haven't been cleaned in three years.

Professional photography notices even more.

In Summit County, I'd pay particular attention to windows. If one of the reasons someone is buying your property is the mountain view, I don't want them looking at it through dirty glass.

A thorough professional cleaning is one of the easiest pre-listing investments I recommend.

5. Tackle the low-hanging maintenance

You know that bathroom faucet that's been dripping for six months?

Now is the time to call the plumber.

The same goes for the loose doorknob, burned-out lightbulb, sticking door, broken switch plate, damaged trim or closet door that's been off its track since 2022.

None of these things individually is likely to cost you a sale. The problem is accumulation.

A buyer notices one little problem and probably doesn't think much of it. They notice ten and start wondering how well the property has been maintained overall.

Remember the goal: remove objections before buyers have a chance to make them.

6. Get the routine mechanical service done

If the boiler or furnace is due for routine service, I'd have it done. Depending on the property, this may also be a good time for vent cleaning, fireplace servicing or other routine maintenance.

And while you're at it, tidy up the mechanical room.

It doesn't need to look like a showroom. Get the cardboard boxes away from the boiler, vacuum the floor and make it look like someone actually takes care of what's in there.

There's also a practical negotiating reason for doing this.

When I represent a buyer, we request routine mechanical servicing during the inspection process nine times out of ten if there isn't evidence it was recently completed.

If I'm representing the seller and can slap an invoice on the table showing the boiler was professionally serviced last week, that discussion is usually over before it starts.

You've maintained the equipment, given the buyer additional confidence and potentially eliminated an inspection request before it ever gets made.

7. Make the easy cosmetic changes

Preparing a property for sale doesn't necessarily mean spending a fortune.

Sometimes a trip to Target is more useful than a trip to the remodeling contractor.

If the primary bedroom has a heavily patterned bedspread, replace it with something simple. Put out clean towels. Replace a particularly dated lampshade. Remove the dusty fake plants.

Buyers generally respond well to clean and simple.

The question isn't, "How do we make this look like a design magazine?"

It's, "What inexpensive changes will make this property look noticeably better in person and in photographs?"

There is usually some low-hanging fruit.

8. Don't renovate just because you're selling

This is the other side of #7.

One of the most common questions I get from prospective sellers is some version of:

"Should we remodel the kitchen before we sell?"

Sometimes the answer is yes.

Often, it isn't.

If you're considering spending $50,000 immediately before selling, we need to figure out whether the market is actually going to give you that $50,000 back.

There is a big difference between making a property present well and renovating it for the next owner.

I'd rather see someone spend $2,000 strategically than $50,000 automatically.

9. Walk through the property like you've never seen it before

Owners become blind to their own properties.

That front door has stuck for six years, so you've developed a little hip-check maneuver that opens it perfectly every time.

A buyer doesn't know the maneuver.

They just think the front door is broken.

Experience the property the way a buyer will. Pull into the driveway or parking area. Walk to the entrance. Unlock the front door. Turn on the lights. Open the blinds. Walk onto the deck. Open a closet. Walk through the garage.

What do you notice?

The first showing shouldn't be the first time anyone looks at your property through a buyer's eyes.

10. Fix the smell instead of covering it up

Smell matters.

Dogs, cooking, smoke, mildew, fireplaces, old carpet and wet ski gear can all leave their mark.

If there's an odor, deal with the source. Clean the carpet. Wash the dog bed. Deal with the moisture. Take the trash out.

What I would not do is plug an air freshener into every outlet.

If I walk into a property and immediately get punched in the face by "Tropical Sunrise," my first thought isn't how wonderful it smells.

It's what are they trying to cover up?

Clean and neutral wins here too.

11. Get your paperwork together

There's a boring side to selling real estate, and getting ahead of it can make the transaction much easier.

Start gathering the documents a buyer may reasonably want to see: HOA information when applicable, surveys, floor plans, permits, improvement invoices, warranties, mechanical service records, rental information and documentation for major upgrades.

You may not need all of it.

But it's much easier to find the invoice for the new boiler now than while a buyer's inspection deadline is ticking.

Good documentation also helps tell the story of a well-maintained property. If you've spent meaningful money improving the home over the last five years, let's be able to show it.

12. Understand the HOA and short-term rental situation, if applicable

Not every Summit County property has an HOA or short-term rental considerations. For the ones that do, I want to understand them before going to market.

That includes HOA dues, upcoming assessments, parking, storage, pets, insurance, amenities and significant projects the association may be considering.

If short-term rental potential is part of the property's appeal, I also want to know exactly what we can and cannot represent to a buyer.

Short-term rental regulations vary considerably across Summit County's towns and unincorporated areas and have changed repeatedly over the years.

Just because a property has historically been rented short-term doesn't automatically mean the next owner can do exactly the same thing.

I'd rather answer those questions correctly before going to market than have a buyer discover something unexpected halfway through the transaction.

13. Decide whether your furniture is helping or hurting

I don't believe every property needs to be professionally staged.

I also don't believe every property looks better empty.

Sometimes the existing furniture sells the lifestyle beautifully. Sometimes removing 30% of it makes the rooms feel twice as large. Sometimes the furniture makes an otherwise appealing property look much older than it really is.

And sometimes a vacant property with tasteful virtual staging is the best solution.

The question isn't whether you're "supposed" to stage.

It's what presentation makes it easiest for a buyer to understand and want the space.

Make that decision before photography, not after the listing has been sitting online for three weeks.

14. Treat photography like advertising, not documentation

Listing photography isn't there to prove the property exists.

It's advertising.

If the view is one of the reasons someone will buy the property, show the damn view.

That may mean paying attention to weather, lighting and time of day. It may mean waiting for better exterior conditions. It definitely means having the property completely prepared before the photographer arrives.

The same goes for location and amenities. If the property is ski-in/ski-out, show people what that actually means. If it's across the street from Lake Dillon, give them context. If there's an incredible deck overlooking the mountains, don't bury it as photo #37.

I'd rather take an extra few days to launch a property correctly than rush mediocre photos online simply so I can say it's listed.

15. Price for the market you're entering, not the number you want

Finally, get serious about price.

Sellers naturally have a number they'd like to get.

That's fine.

The market doesn't know what you want.

Recent sales matter, but they're only part of the analysis. I also look closely at current competition, pending sales, price reductions, expired and withdrawn listings, days on market and what buyers are currently choosing not to buy.

The active competition is particularly important because that's what buyers will see next to your property when it hits the market.

And I wouldn't intentionally overprice simply to "leave room to negotiate."

If a buyer's maximum budget is $1.35 million, they may never look at your $1.4 million property and think, "I'll just offer $1.3 million."

They may never see it at all.

The first few weeks on the market are valuable. That's when a listing is new, buyers are paying attention and brokers are sharing it with clients.

I don't want to waste that window testing a price we already know is unrealistic.

Preparation is really about removing objections

That's the common thread through all 15 of these.

You probably don't need to do every single thing on this list.

One property may need nothing more than a professional cleaning, some decluttering and great photography. Another may benefit from several months of preparation before it ever reaches the market.

The goal isn't perfection.

It's to identify the things that could hurt the sale, fix the ones that make financial sense and make deliberate decisions about everything else.

A dripping faucet is easy to fix.

A recently serviced boiler is easy to document.

An ugly bedspread is easy to replace.

Launching into a crowded market at the wrong time or starting at the wrong price is much harder to undo.

That's why I prefer having these conversations early.

If you're considering selling a Summit County property in the next six months, next year or even a few years from now, I'm happy to take a look before you're ready to list. We can talk about what I'd fix, what I'd leave alone, how I'd prepare the property, what you're competing against and whether now is even the right time to sell.

Sometimes the most useful advice I can give a prospective seller is what to do before listing.

And occasionally, it's not to list yet.