How Orchard’s Concierge service helps you sell for more

Erik Baldois and his wife, Jennifer, were excited to move. They had bought a new construction home, and after weeks of waiting, it was finally ready. That’s when they turned their thoughts to other matters, like selling their old home.

It was May 2023. While low inventory had supported a strong seller's market for years, high mortgage rates had significantly dampened demand across the country, including Melissa, Texas, where the Baldoises lived. To make matters worse, they had to compete with incentives offered by home builders that helped bring down mortgage costs and increase buying power for people purchasing a home directly from builders.

The Baldoises were up against significant headwinds, and they were anxious to sell fast. The last thing they wanted was the additional hassle of getting their old home ready for sale, but their three-bedroom, two-bathroom home was in need of updating.

“I’m a disabled veteran, so we knew we had to hire someone to help prep our home,” says Erik, “But we also didn’t want to have to deal with the mess of someone coming in.”

Greg Lehmann and Orchard’s Concierge team had a better way of doing things. With Orchard’s Move First program, the Baldoises were able to move into their new home while Orchard handled preparing their old house for sale, including making value-boosting repairs and upgrades. 

That meant the Baldoises didn’t have to worry about coordinating with contractors or facilitating vendors, they didn’t even have to worry about which updates to make. They could focus on moving into their new home, and let Orchard handle the rest.

Lehmann is the Renovation Lead at Orchard with over 10 years of experience in real estate, spanning project management, renovations, and even training to become a home inspector. He uses his expertise not just to recommend possible repairs, but also to point out what upgrades will help sell homes for top-dollar, fast.

After his walkthrough of the Baldoises’ home, he identified several areas of focus to get the house ready for market:

• Boosting curb appeal with landscaping
• Repairing existing damage like drywall cracks
• Repainting and carpeting to give the home a fresh feel

He sat down with them to talk through his recommendations and help them decide which renovations — if any — they wanted to make. 

The Baldoises decided to go all in. Their home would get roughly $13,000 of updates completed.

Before and after

Within a week, Lehmann’s team got to work. “I try to put myself in the buyer’s position. What would I see right off the bat? Curb appeal. If your home doesn’t look good from the outside, buyers are likely going to think, ‘What else did they not take care of inside the house?’”

Lehmann’s team raised the canopy of two large trees in the front yard, trimmed down the shrubs, laid fresh mulch, and filled the planter with flowers. Approximately $1,400 worth of work that gave the home a fresh face.

Front yard

Living room

Dani Palmer, the Baldoises’ Orchard agent, echoes the importance of showing the home was well cared for, especially when it comes to odor-absorbing materials like carpet.

“A lot of times with old carpet comes an old smell, and no one wants to walk into a house and wonder if that smell is ever going to go away.”

A hint of disrepair can make buyers’ imaginations run wild and cast doubt in their minds, so Lehmann installed new carpet throughout the home, costing roughly $3,300. 

He also completed some minor electrical and drywall repairs before putting on the final touches, like new ceiling fans and a fresh coat of paint for the entire interior — approximately $6,900 of repairs.

Bedrooms

Bathrooms

In the bathrooms, Lehmann went through what he calls a punch list: “Little things that you may not think of, but really go a long way with buyers.” 

These touches — like updating the toilet paper holders and towel racks and replacing lights with daylight spectrum bulbs — help buyers see a house as a move-in ready and not a fixer-upper.

The results

The costs of the updates to the Baldoises’ home broke down accordingly:

Throughout the process, Lehmann was “like a family member. He was so warm and caring, and overwhelmingly accommodating and quick,” says Erik. 

That included sending Erik updates on the property every two days. “I knew he couldn’t be there every day, so I tried to update him as much as humanly possible. Just so he felt at ease with the job and how it was progressing.”

By the time Lehman and his team were done, Erik said the house “looked like new.”

After just 25 days on the market, the Baldoises' home sold for $320,000 — $55,500 more than the amount Orchard guaranteed for their home sale, and 22 days less than the annual median DOM of homes in the area. That left them with a comfortable sum to cover the cost of the Concierge upgrades and still have some left over.

“I don’t think we would have been able to sell without Orchard,” says Erik, and he’s not alone.

As the housing market continues to swing from an extreme seller’s market into a more balanced one, sellers are having to do more to appeal to potential buyers. The problem is that most home sellers are also homebuyers.

But you don’t have to navigate the market alone. When you work with Orchard, we'll give you a guaranteed offer on the sale of your old home, which can free up cash to purchase your new one. (More on how Orchard works here.) After you’re moved into your new home, Orchard will handle selling your old one — including listing, marketing, and even making updates with our Concierge service, just like the Baldoises did.

If you’re interested in our Concierge service or other programs like Move First, get in touch today.