YES! I was contacted by longtime homeowners in February about selling their home. They weren't sure on: Where to move, when to move, what repairs or updates to make on their home, who to hire to represent them. I listened to their plans and suggested renting in the community they were considering buying in.
I advised them to move in mid July so I could organize getting the prep work lined up so that the house would hit the market in the beginning of the fall market (after Labor Day weekend). They were approached by a neighbor who was interested in buying the home "off market". I suggested that if they were going to entertain this offer, they might as well cast a wider net. I used my agent network to broadcast their house, as-is, off market. I had about 6 private showings and no offers with the house listed at 1.295M.
Once the sellers moved out, they used a no interest loan program through my company to pay for 50K of prep work ( painting, yardwork, staging, minor repairs and updated light fixtures). Once on market, the home received multiple offers and closed at 1.595M. So the house went from no offers at 1.295M to multiple offers. Closing at 1.595M with about 50k of prep work. YES! It literally pays to pepare a house before putting it on the market! Below are three photos of the property "before" and "after" prepwork.
