Lisa Hatem’s Ultimate Guide to Selling Your Home in Cabo

Cabo San Lucas (widely known simply as “Cabo”) is a popular hotspot for travelers and new home buyers. It lies at the southern tip of California’s Baja Peninsula and is home to approximately 203,000 residents.

Cabo is a major resort city and is consistently rated among Mexico's top five tourist hotspots. Outdoor enthusiasts can enjoy a myriad of activities, from swimming, fishing, diving, waterskiing, bodyboarding, parasailing, sailing at sunset, and more. There are also many snorkeling tours where visitors can swim amongst rays, mahi-mahi, sharks, and striped marlin. Those who are more earthbound can choose an afternoon of tennis, golfing, hiking, biking, or horseback riding to quell their need for activities and exercise.

The Arco de Cabo San Lucas is a distinctive natural rock formation that forms an arch that rises from the water. Here, playful and raucous sea lions bask in the sun and cool off in the crystal clear waters of the surrounding bay. If you visit Cabo in the winter, you might luck out and spot pods of whales who migrate to the area to give birth to their calves.

The area is in a constant seller’s market. Speaking of lucky, if you’re a Cabo homeowner and have decided it’s time to move, here are some handy home-selling tips to consider.

As a seller, you might be tempted to accept any offer where contingencies are waived to move forward on selling your home. However, consider that these offers might mean a lower offer and even bear some risk. Will the buyer nickel-and-dime you over every minuscule item he thinks is a problem? Assess your home offers to determine which is the least risky.

Research, interview, and select the most aggressive realtor you can find. Is she on time for meetings? Is she quick to respond to calls and emails? How does she greet you? If your chosen realtor isn’t glad to hear from you, doesn’t respect your time, or is lacking in salesmanship attributes, she’s probably not the best choice to represent your Cabo real estate or your interests.

Don’t overlook any repairs or maintenance on your home. Not only do you have to notify a potential buyer of any problems, but these problems could also affect your sales price. It’s purely up to you to decide what you want to fix versus what lower offer you’re willing to accept so a buyer can pay for those repairs. In a seller’s market, sellers have a good chance of selling their homes in “as-is” condition because buyers are eager to buy a home amongst Cabo real estate. However, it’s still important to present your home in the best light possible so it stands a better chance of selling faster. At the very least, hire a professional cleaning service to deep clean and declutter your home to be ready to show at a moment’s notice.

Sellers must be ready to move when a buyer comes through with an acceptable offer. Therefore, be ready to present all paperwork to a buyer as soon you receive a viable offer. Invest in a pre-sale inspection to take place even before you list your home to alert potential buyers about any issues that might affect the sales price. Having this paperwork ready gives buyers the confidence to make a quick offer and, as a result, a quick sale.

Additionally, consider partnering with a title company before you list your home. Doing so will reduce the hassle and potential delay if a buyer has to find one on his own.

Home selling tips wouldn’t be complete without the suggestion to invest in a pre-listing inspection. This step is optional but is also a wise investment. A detailed inspection report will identify structural or mechanical issues before you list your home for sale so you can adjust the asking price accordingly. The inspection may cost several hundred dollars but will tell you in advance about issues that could make or break a deal. By keeping a few steps ahead of buyers, sellers could speed up the selling process by making repairs while finishing other prep work. Tackling these issues before the house is listed for sale means by the time the house “goes live,” it should be move-in ready with all problems out in the open.

Avoid the temptation to snap a few photos of your home with your iPhone and post them online. Professional photographers and stagers know their craft and will efficiently stage your house for showings and photograph it in ideal conditions to post the best quality staged photos online and in printed material.

Pro stagers will declutter and depersonalize your space so potential buyers will have the opportunity to picture themselves in that space without the influence or distraction of too much furniture, personal collections and photographs, sports memorabilia, and family or vacation photos. Pro photographers are skilled enough to make every room and feature in your home appear larger than life, brighter, and optimally attractive. They understand lighting and composition and will transform, for example, even the darkest of patios or cluttered yards into inviting rest spots for new owners.

Local real estate agents are specialists in Cabo real estate and can provide even more home selling tips in addition to the ones detailed here. When you’re ready to take the next step, reach out to Cabo agent Lisa Hatem for guidance.