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The Jacobi Team, Century 21 Select Real Estate, Inc.The Jacobi Team, Century 21 Select Real Estate, Inc.

The Jacobi Team, Century 21 Select Real Estate, Inc.

Emmett Jacobi
Contact us by emailEmmettJacobi@gmail.com
Contact Emmett Today At 530-519-6333
Kim Jacobi
Kim@JacobiTeam.com
Contact Kim Today At 530-518-8453

1101 El Monte Ave Chico, CA 95928

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Getting Ready To Sell Part Two

Addressing the home’s interior

Last week we looked at the exterior, now for the interior

It’s exciting to think about selling your home but it can be a little overwhelming. Where to begin? In last week’s post we looked at 10 points to think about regarding the exterior of the home. Let’s turn that same thinking to the interior of your home. Again, your budget and the time you can spend will determine how much of these things you can do. Doing all of them will ensure that your home is a shining star once it hits the market. Doing most of them will ensure that your home is ready for buyers to come and look and fall in love with your home. Doing none of them means you have to adjust your price to include an “as is” or “fixer-upper” sale.

Here goes, 10 points to consider for the interior in getting ready to sell:

1. Get a storage unit or clear a space in your garage and start packing! It’s time to declutter and open up the space. Pack up all knick-knacks, personal photos, clutter, etc. Your goal is to have your bookshelves, closets and surfaces have barely anything on or in them. Kitchen and bathroom counters need to be completely bare except for hand soap. You want potential buyers to see the home and envision themselves living there.

2. Replace any burned out bulbs or faulty light switches. If a prospective buyer goes to turn on a light and it doesn’t turn on because of a burnt out bulb, they may think the worst and figure there’s something wrong with the electric system in your home. You might consider getting a whole house inspection done to find out all the little things that could be fixed. A buyer usually gets a whole house inspection but if you get to it first then they won’t have anything to request from you to fix during escrow.

3. Pet or smoke odors can lose you thousands of dollars off the sale of your home, so if you have a pet or you smoke, consider waiting to deep clean the home until a week before your home goes on the market and then the cleaning smells will be fresh for the rush of buyers when they come the first couple weeks.

4. Deep clean the entire house: windows, sills, blinds, curtains, carpet, cabinets, walls, baseboards, trim, ceiling fans, surfaces, tub and toilet stains, grout stains, etc. And remember the oven! Consider having your carpets professionally cleaned and have any sections that have stains or rips repaired. If your budget allows, hire professional cleaners to come in and do the deep cleaning.

5. No cobwebs anywhere. Especially just before open houses or showings, take a duster and go over everything.

6. Paint brightly colored walls a neutral color like beige, sand or off white. This will help prospective buyers to better imagine their own color schemes in the home.

7. Patch and paint any holes. This is a good task to do just prior to deep cleaning.

8. Repair leaky faucets, loose doorknobs, cabinets that don’t close all the way, etc.

9. Small updates that pack a big punch could include new, modern faucets in kitchen and bath; newer, modern ceiling fans and light fixtures; new throw pillows and area rugs and new towels for the bathroom.

10. If your home is in the City of Chico and was built prior to 1991 and you bought it more than 10 years ago then you will need to ensure that you have R30 ceiling insulation in order to sell your home. The buyer can take responsibility for that but that is something that the typical buyer will expect a seller to do. So if you do it ahead of time then you will be better off. This is something you can discuss with your real estate agent.

There are many ins and outs to getting a home ready to put on the market. Emmett and Kim Jacobi – The Jacobi Team – are experts in navigating the intricacies of selling a home and also of buying a home. Contact them today to start a conversation.

Posted in: Uncategorized Tagged: Century 21 Chico, Chico housing market, getting ready to sell, How to prep my house to sell, Jacobi Team, real estate agents in Chico, selling your home

Getting Ready To Sell

First Let’s Look Outside

We’ll look at the interior in next week’s post.

Getting ready to sell your home? Here are 10 points to think about. Your budget and time will help you to prioritize the list and help you to make decisions on which items can actually be done. Doing all of them will ensure that your home is a shining star once it hits the market. Doing most of them will ensure that your home is ready for buyers to come and look and fall in love with your home. Doing none? Well that means you may need to adjust your price to make it an “as is” or “fixer-upper” sale.

Okay, here we go, a 10 point to-do list for the exterior:

1. Landscaping: pull weeds, trim bushes and trees and mow the lawn. For a finished look to the flower beds add fresh bark and a pop of color with some annuals planted near the front door.

2. Power wash the exterior and touch up areas of peeling paint. If you can afford it, paint the whole exterior if your home hasn’t been painted in over 10 years. Make sure all cobwebs are removed from the exterior at the very least. Shake out the welcome mat and dust down the front door.

3. Clean all the windows and replace any broken or missing screens. If you have windows that are cracked – or missing – have them replaced if you can. The windows are the eyes of the home and you want yours shining brightly.

4. Get a roof inspection if your roof is over 15 years old. Get any repairs done that will ensure that a buyer can get a loan on the home.

5. Get a pest inspection done and have all dry rot and wood destroying pest issues addressed. This will ensure that a buyer can get a loan on your home as well.

6. If you have a septic system and are not connected to city sewer, ensure that your septic tank is pumped and inspected. If the inspection shows major problems with the septic and you do not have the money to fix it, ask your real estate agent about a “buyers a credit” to go towards septic repair.

7. Replace any missing or broken bricks, pavers, shingles or stones anywhere on the exterior or walkways. Now is a good time to look at the driveway – is it cracked? Buckled? If you can afford to, give your driveway some loving attention as it will increase the curb appeal of the home.

8. If you have a chimney make sure there is a properly installed chimney cap. The roofer can do that when he goes up to do his inspection. There are many points to be considered about chimneys, here’s an interesting article.

9. If your heating and air system is older than 15 years consider having it serviced and inspected. You might consider have the home’s ducts checked, cleaned and repaired if needed.

10. Does your property have fencing? If so, take a walk around and check for possible wear or damage. Maybe all that is needed are a few new boards here or there. Or, if you can afford it, you may need a whole new fence. Broken down fences can be a negative to a buyer, whereas a newly painted, repaired fence can make the property look loved and cared for and increases its value.

There is much to consider when thinking about getting a home ready for sale. Emmett and Kim Jacobi, The Jacobi Team, are experts at helping people navigate the ins and outs of home selling. Contact them today.

Posted in: Uncategorized Tagged: Century 21 Chico, Chico housing market, Chico real estate, Chico realtor, getting ready to sell, How to prep my house to sell, Jacobi Team, real estate agents in Chico, selling your home

The Invisible Door

What’s bigger than the front door?

Answer: the Garage Door!

Most homes have driveways – or in some cases roadways – that lead to the garage. Some houses, of course, may not have a garage, they could have carports or nothing at all to protect the vehicles. But the majority have garages – and nearly all garages have doors.

The typical neighborhood home faces the street, with a driveway that connects the street to the garage. Unless the homeowner uses the garage for storage or as an extra occupied room, garages are used to shelter the family vehicles. And no matter what the garage space is actually used for, it still has a door that faces the street.

What’s interesting is that some garage doors are totally forgotten about in the preparation for selling a home. Which is a shame because garage doors can visually be nearly a third of the curb appeal. Also a garage door upgrade can add to the overall value of the home.

Let’s imagine that everything has been done in preparation for selling your home. The interior is sparkling clean and has been staged, ready for its first showing. The outside landscaping has been spruced up, the windows are all clean and sparkling and even the front door has been painted and fitted with new hardware.

Now walk out to the sidewalk and look at the front of the house as if you are a prospective buyer. What do you see? Is your home’s curb appeal appealing? Has anything been forgotten? Now take a look at the garage door.

* Does it need painting? Does it complement the design of your home’s overall architecture?
* Does it sag in its frame? Will it open all the way?
* Does it have an automatic opener? Does it work? Is it noisy when it opens?

To make your garage door fit the personality of your home and improve its salability consider bringing that garage door up to the standards of the rest of the home. Paint, repair or even consider replacing it. Buyers will notice it as soon as they pull up at the curb. And, if the garage door is meant to be opened and closed, they will want to see it in action during the home tour.

As with all other aspects of the home, let your garage door be one of the shining selling points. Read here an article showing some before and after examples of renovated garage doors.

The Jacobi Team can help you with all aspects of selling your home, from questions about staging the interior to tips about upgrading the exterior to improve the curb appeal. Contact The Jacobi Team today.

Posted in: Uncategorized Tagged: Century 21 Chico, Chico real estate, curb appeal, garage door, How to prep my house to sell, Jacobi Team, real estate, real estate agents in Chico

Staging is not just for the theater

Preparing your home for potential buyers

Both kinds of staging involve an audience. On Broadway, the stage is viewed by an audience seeking entertainment. When selling your home, staging is a way to give prospective buyers the best possible first impression you can of your home. And, in these days of COVID awareness – even though everyone is slowly venturing out into the marketplace once again – staging plays a great importance. Read here for an April 2021 assessment of the importance of staging.

Here we offer 9 points about the value, and importance of, staging your home for selling:

1. Helps your home sell faster, decreasing the amount of time it sits on the market.

2. Often it sells at a higher price, offering a higher return on investment.

3. Gives potential buyers a better first impression of the home.

4. Helps buyers visualize themselves in the home.

5. Helps make the home look move-in ready.

6. Demonstrates the home’s potential.

7. Skilled staging highlights the home’s best features, often giving the perception of a bigger home.

8. Simple, tasteful staging makes the home look new, rather than cluttered or empty.

9. Online home photos will stand out more prominently, drawing more interest.

Staging is exactly that…setting the stage for your buyers to see your home in the very best light possible. At the Jacobi Team we offer professional staging to help you maximize the salability of your home. Contact us today.

Posted in: Uncategorized Tagged: Century 21 Chico, Chico homes for sale, Chico real estate, Chico realtor, How to prep my house to sell, Jacobi Team, prepping a home for sale, selling your home, staging, staging a home to sell

A fun checklist for selling your home during the summer

Tasks for summer selling

How about flowers

Selling a home during the summer months actually isn’t all that much different than in any other season of the year. Here’s a quick list of things you can do when the weather is warm and the sun is shining:

Outside:

1. If painting the exterior is not feasible at least give the exterior of the house a power wash.
2. Make sure your front door says “Welcome!” Brighten it with a coat of paint and new hardware or replace it with a new door to add overall sales value.
3. Is there a flower bed next to your front entry? Spruce it up with fresh flowers, trim any bushes and make sure the lawn is mowed.
4. Spiders! Remember to take a broom and de-web. Sure they’ll be back but you want them not so noticeable on home showing day.

Inside:
1. Open the curtains! Let the sunshine in and keep the lights turned on. When you’re showing your home you want it to shine like it is on Broadway!
2. Make the interior comfy by turning on the AC and ceiling fans. Speaking of ceiling fans, make sure they are clean and sparkling (they often get forgotten on the cleaning to-do list).
3. Empty out closets (and cupboards) about halfway. You do still live there, but you want your potential buyers to see that there is plenty of closet space–they will sneak a peek!
4. During showings place crisp white sheets over the beds. You don’t need to get expensive ones, but white looks so summery.
5. Place a vase of fresh cut flowers on your kitchen counter. A way to bring the summer inside.

And, because it’s summer, consider filling the kitchen sink with some ice and mini bottles of cold water.

Have an awesome home showing! The Jacobi Team.

Posted in: Uncategorized Tagged: Century 21 Chico, Chico homes for sale, Chico real estate, Chico realtor, How to prep my house to sell, Jacobi Team, selling in the summer

7 Small Tasks for January Decluttering and Organizing

If decluttering and organizing is on your New Year’s resolutions list, you might start visualizing your goal by saving photos of your favorite organized spaces to a Houzz ideabook. But at some point, you’ve got to go from dreaming to taking action. As a professional organizer, I recommend that you begin with tasks that take only an hour or two to complete.

Tackling smaller areas of your home can give you a sense of accomplishment that motivates you to continue organizing. Here are seven often-neglected areas that can be great places to start. Depending on the time you have, you may be able to get through several of these tasks this month.

1. Organize the Linen Closet

Linen closets can easily become disorganized, cluttered and overstuffed. Sometimes it may even become hard to close the door. The new year is a great time for a fresh start in this area.

Towels

Towels should be washed once or twice a week to maintain freshness and eliminate bacteria. I suggest keeping two to three bath towels per household member so you have a backup on wash day. If you have more towels than you truly need, consider getting rid of any that are faded, stained or frayed. A local animal shelter will probably be happy to receive them.

Sheets

Two sets of sheets per bed should generally be sufficient. If you use a duvet cover without a top sheet, there’s no reason to hang on to unused top sheets. Donate those that are in good shape.

Blankets

I recommend not letting the linen closet become a catchall for blankets you never use. Small fleece blankets commonly given as promotional items might be stashed and never looked at again. Consider parting with these and any other unused quilts, throws or comforters.

Once you’ve pared down your supply, I suggest labeling shelves to identify which linens belong where. You might use categories such as “master bedroom sheets,” “twin bed sheets” and “guest room sheets.” Alternatively, if your budget allows, you might consider purchasing containers to store bed and bath linens. Label your containers and store sets together: A queen-size top sheet, fitted sheet and matching pillowcases should go in the same bin to make it easy to find the whole set.

2. Clean Out the Coat Closet

A coat closet is valuable real estate that not everyone has the good fortune to possess. However, it can become a disorganized mess if not attended to periodically. Now might be a good time for a quick purging and organizing session.

When working with clients, I recommend they pull everything out of the closet and place coats, jackets and accessories on a clean table or other work surface. My clients are often surprised by how much a small space can hold!

Outerwear

Since this category of clothing tends not to be sentimental, it’s often easy to donate items you no longer use. If you happen to be saving outgrown jackets for a younger sibling, consider storing them away from this prime spot. Likewise, consider storing seasonal items like ski jackets with ski equipment.
You might find jackets and coats that were mistakenly left at your home after a party. In the future, return them in a timely fashion so they won’t continue to crowd your coat closet.

Accessories

Gloves, hats and scarves can usually be sorted quickly. Donate those you no longer use. Toss old gloves or mittens that are missing their mate. It might make sense to store rarely worn sentimental clothing such as logo hats and scarves — perhaps from your college, vacation or favorite sports team — in another part of the house.

Shoes

These have a way of piling up. Toss overly worn shoes and those without a mate. Consider donating outgrown children’s shoes that are still in good shape. It might be best to store athletic shoes and cleats in the garage or other storage area so they don’t give your closet an unpleasant odor. I recommend storing special-occasion shoes on the top shelf of your bedroom closet.

Random items

Now is the time to return random items stashed in the coat closet to their proper homes. Before entertaining, some of my clients throw clutter from counters and tabletops into boxes that they stash in the back of the coat closet. If you have such boxes, commit to sorting through them. You may discover a lost treasure buried there.

When returning coats and jackets to the closet, you might organize them by category (all raincoats together, for instance). Another option is to group coats and jackets according to their owner. You might want to invest in an over-the-door organizer to hold accessories. These can be great for storing gloves, hats and scarves.

Also consider giving yourself a deadline to get any donations out of the house so they don’t end up back in the closet.

3. Declutter Under the Kitchen Sink

Since the area under the kitchen sink is small, it can usually be transformed in less than an hour. Start by pulling out all the contents and placing it on a counter or table. Then wipe the interior of the cabinet clean with warm, soapy water.

Next address your undersink products. Consider consolidating duplicates. For example, two half-used containers of dishwasher pods might be consolidated into one. (Take care not to mix products, as cleaning agents containing ammonia and bleach create toxic fumes if combined.)

Toss any products that have dried out or are no longer needed. People sometimes collect free samples of dishwasher soap or other cleaning products and then never use them. Consider getting rid of such samples or at least using them in the coming weeks so you don’t end up storing them indefinitely.

Wipe off remaining products with warm, soapy water. I suggest corralling supplies in plastic storage caddies to help the space under the sink stay neat. If you don’t want to purchase new caddies, you may be able to repurpose containers you already own.

Group similar products: dishwashing products in a single container, cleaning supplies in another. If you need more storage, you might consider purchasing an organizer that attaches to the cabinet door.

4. Purge the Freezer

Many people clean out their refrigerator on a regular basis yet don’t address the freezer.

Begin by removing all of the contents. Wipe down the freezer with warm, soapy water.

Consider tossing foods that have been in the freezer for many months. It’s safe to freeze food indefinitely at 0° F but, according to the FDA, the food’s quality decreases the longer it’s frozen. Tenderness, flavor, aroma, juiciness and color can all be affected. The quality of ground beef declines in three to four months, for example, while chicken pieces will last for nine months, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The quality of soups and stews starts to degrade in two to three months.

If you don’t want to throw food away, you might instead eat it now before the quality deteriorates further. Also pitch foods that haven’t been properly wrapped and have freezer burn or are covered in ice crystals.

5. Clean Out the Kitchen Junk Drawer

Often my clients have one or more junk drawers in the kitchen. These might contain pens, receipts, hair ties, screwdrivers, flashlights, power cords, earbuds, lip balm, old sunglasses, packing tape, old cell phones and a multitude of other random items. It’s often difficult to find anything in them because they’re so messy.

I suggest limiting your kitchen junk to just one drawer, and try to limit its contents to things you use every day.

To organize this area, I recommend first removing everything from the drawer. Toss anything broken or unusable, such as dried-out pens. Toss or file old receipts. Consider donating unused items that still have life in them, such as old sunglasses. Remove the SIM cards from old cellphones and recycle the phones at a local electronic-waste-disposal site.

Then return the items you want to keep — but not in the junk drawer — to their proper homes: tools to the toolbox, hair ties to the bathroom drawer.

For the items that will remain in the junk drawer, consider purchasing organizers or repurposing small containers to keep the drawer from becoming chaotic. Use these containers to store everyday items such as earbuds, phone chargers, pens, tape and scissors.

Since a junk drawer has the tendency to become a dumping ground, spend a few minutes each month removing things that don’t belong there and returning them to their proper homes.

6. Refold the Contents of your Sock and Underwear Drawer

Underwear and sock drawers can easily become a tangled web. The trick to corralling socks and lingerie is to break a large drawer into smaller sections and group similar items within each.

I recommend purchasing inexpensive drawer organizers. Collapsable cloth boxes or plastic containers are a good choice, or you can repurpose shoe or photo boxes. Spring-loaded plastic drawer dividers are another option.

To begin the organizing process, I recommend removing the contents of the drawer. Toss socks without a mate as well as anything else that has reached the end of its functional life.

I have a large drawer, so I divided it into five sections: bras, underwear, athletic socks, dress socks and tights. The boxes I purchased happen to fit perfectly in my drawer. If you can’t find a good fit for yours, consider spring-loaded dividers, which can be adjusted to fit most drawers.

You can fold bras and arrange them vertically within one box so that you can easily find the one you want. I recommend folding underwear neatly in another box and tights in a third. For socks, organizer Marie Kondo recommends folding them and storing vertically. If this doesn’t work for you, opt for the old-fashioned method of rolling each pair in a ball. Consider storing athletic socks in a separate container from dress socks.

I’ve found that my underwear and sock drawer has stayed neat and organized since I purchased drawer organizers. It’s easy to maintain and I don’t have to spend time each month tidying it.

Want to know how much your house is worth? Click hereHome Valuation

7. Organize Your Bathroom Drawer

Like any drawer that holds small items, the bathroom drawer can quickly become a jumbled mess without the use of drawer organizers. Fortunately, these are available in many shapes and sizes. Some people like individual clear plastic containers that fit products such as toothpaste, dental floss and razors.

I recommend that you measure your bathroom drawer before you purchase to ensure the correct fit. If you buy different sizes, they fit like a puzzle in the drawer, so be careful when measuring. It may be more economical to purchase one large organizer that’s divided into sections.

For this room, I do recommend purchasing organizers rather than repurposing existing containers. Bathroom drawers are shallow, and organizers also need to be able to stand up to moisture, so if you intend to repurpose containers, keep this in mind.

As with the previous tasks, begin by emptying and wiping out the drawer. Toss anything that’s dried out or unusable. Make room in your organizers for daily items like toothpaste, floss, razors, moisturizer and sunscreen. Create a space for cosmetics you use often. If you own a lot of makeup, you may want to store the less frequently used items in a container under the sink.

Once you’ve completed these seven tasks, give yourself a small reward. If you’re motivated to continue decluttering your home, you might even consider seven slightly larger tasks to focus on next month.

Written by Jeanne Taylor, found on the Houzz.com website

Hi from Emmett and Kim! We are a husband and wife real estate team here in Chico, CA with Century 21 Select Real Estate. We hope you stick around and check out our website! You can search for homes for sale in Chico or towns around it. You can get answers to your questions about buying a home or selling a home. You can even sign up to have an online consultation with Kim or Emmett about buying a house! Call us if you just want to talk real estate.

Posted in: Uncategorized Tagged: CA, decluttering tips, Deep cleaning tips, Getting organized, home buyer FAQ, Homes for sale in Chico, Houzz, How to prep my house to sell, New Years declutter ideas, Organizing a closet, real estate agents in Chico, Search homes for sale in Chico, Tips on organizing my closet

About Us

What does a former Alaskan fisherman and a former music teacher have in common? Real Estate! Emmett and Kim teamed up in 2015 to form The Jacobi Team. Together they bring what one person alone could never do: the best qualities of two people, combined with leveraged time and focus, creating high quality, high success representation for buyers and sellers of real estate. Real Estate is not an easy career, so why do it? “Because we care about people and we love the uniqueness every person, and every property brings. We truly feel joy and satisfaction when we help someone.” -E and K

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Featured Blog Post

How to know when this market will shift

February 16, 2022 By KimberlyJacobi

In many parts of the United States, areas are experiencing a seller’s market: low inventory, high prices, lots of buyers= multiple offers. This kind of market is THE best time for a seller to sell. Why? Because home sellers can make the most money from selling, as well as have the most leverage for the […]

Contact Us

Emmett Jacobi, CADRE#01896904
Contact us by emailEmmettJacobi@gmail.com
Contact us by email 530-519-6333

Kim Jacobi, CADRE#01963545
Kim@JacobiTeam.com
Contact us by email 530-518-8453

1101 El Monte Ave Chico, CA 95928

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