Best Place Real Estate

The condition of your windows is really important because they affect both the interior and exterior appearance of your home.  So definitely put them on your “To Do List” when you are preparing your home for sale.       

Preparing your windows is usually very inexpensive:

• Wash all your windows inside and out and make sure they open and close properly. 
• Also wash all the screens and check to be sure the screens are in good repair. 
• Window coverings and blinds should be clean and in good condition.  If you decide to change any window treatments, think light weight and neutral.
• If shrubs and bushes have grown very tall in front of  a window, consider trimming the bush so it looks well manicured from both the outside and the inside.
• When showing your home, it is best to have all the curtains and blinds open so your house is as light and bright as possible.

Staging tip:  Sometimes the house is so close to the property line that a room may have a window that looks out at a fence or block wall and this is often not a pretty site.  Change a negative into a positive.  Get some large outdoor pots and place them outside the window.  Buy some ornamental trees or bushes for the pots.  Or, a nice looking potted vine with a pretty trellis may do the trick.  You may need to purchase 5 gallon plants so they are big enough.  Add a cute bird-house or wind-chime.  Another idea is large bakers rack with lots of colorful potted plants.  With just a little creativity you can keep the blinds open and have a nice view too.  Just remember to water the plants! 

Most buyers form an opinion of your house before they even walk through the front door.  You know the old saying about first impressions.  The front entry is a key part of that first impression. 

The buyer often is standing on the front porch for several minutes while their agent is locating the lockbox, retrieving the key, and opening the front door.  Spending time fixing up the front porch is time well spent.

For a great looking porch: 

• Keep the porch well swept as well as the walkway leading up to it.
• Remove dirt and cobwebs from the porch light.
• Repaint the front door if it shows wear.
• Make sure the door knob is clean and working properly.
• Put out a nice new doormat.
• Keep the porch clear of shoes, toys, and other clutter.

Staging Tip:  Adding potted plants with bright colorful flowers makes your entrance warm and inviting.  If you have a really large porch, a couple of chairs or a bistro table/chair set adds ambiance.  Just make sure the area does not look cluttered.

Imagine that you are selling your home at the mall, let’s say in the “house store”.  You would do what all the other stores do. 

Clothes stores have mannequins in the window featuring the latest fashions.  The mannequin is wearing the whole outfit - dress, jewelry, shoes, purse, and maybe even a hat.  The same dress on the rack may look rather plain, but in the window, with the jewelry and all, it is the start of a really outstanding outfit.  The window display gives a shopper an idea of how well the dress may fit in her wardrobe.

Now let’s go to the furniture store.  You might walk through rows of couches and tables and find nothing that jumps out at you.  But, when you see a couch and tables displayed in a room setting with lamps, candles, and potted plants, you stop and think how great that couch might look in your home.  The store might even have the same couch in two different room settings, suggesting to the shopper that the couch works well in both formal and informal decor. 

So now to the “house store” where your home is listed for sale.  You want your house featured in the store window.  You want your house displayed so as to give shoppers an idea of how your home may fit into their lifestyle.  This is staging.  Staging sets your house apart from the houses on the rack or the rows of houses.

Just for clarification.  Staging is not decorating.  Staging is not preparing your home for sale by making repairs and doing inspections.  Staging is marketing your home. 

We live in our homes differently than we sell them.  Most people are at least a little emotional about their homes.  But when we sell it, we need to put those emotions aside.  When we put our home on the market, we really need to appeal to the buyer’s emotions.  This is where staging comes in. 

Even the most beautifully decorated and upgraded home may need to be staged.  Decorating is a personal thing.  Staging de-personalizes it. 

Staging doesn’t necessarily cost a lot.  Often it is only changing or rearranging a few things in a house.  In fact, the cheapest thing that has the most impact is getting rid of clutter.  On the other hand, I feel it is well worth the money to stage a vacant home with furniture and accessories.  The staging will probably pay for itself and then some in the sales price.

Regardless of whether we are in a slow real estate market or a rapidly appreciating one, staged homes usually sell more quickly and often for more money.

A friend recently asked me this question.  My advise was to remember the Internet.  Over 80% of buyers start their search for a home on the Internet and most will only look at the listings with photos.  You know, “a picture is worth a thousand words”.  

Although the teal blue carpet may look great with your decor, many people prefer a neutral color that goes with everything.  Many buyers will consider teal to be an outdated color. 

When a buyer looks at photos of a home with teal carpeting, different thoughts come to mind.  For example, “If the carpeting is outdated, the whole house must be dated”.  Or, “A house with teal carpeting must have old appliances”.  Or,”This looks like a cosmetic fixer.  Maybe I can get it for a lower price”.  Many buyers do not want to be bothered with a dated home unless there is something really special about it, like an outstanding view or a cul-de-sac location.  Or, if they are interested, they want it for a really low price.

Another thing to consider is that the buyers who see it on the Internet and decide to look at it, already have an opinion of the condition of the home.  So, you may have a strike against you before they even walk in the front door.

Many times sellers will offer a carpet allowance.  You can do that, but when you put that in the listing, what you are really doing is suggesting that the house is not up to par. 

My suggestion is that if you can afford to replace the carpeting, do it before you put the house on the market.  Install a medium grade carpet with very neutral color.  New carpeting makes a huge difference in a home.  It will help to sell your home more quickly and probably for a better price.  And the photos on the Internet will look a lot more inviting!

I found a recent article about staging in the Orange County Register rather disturbing. While the author, Babara Ballinger, admits that staging is done to help homeowners sell a home more quickly, she gives the idea that many sellers do it to cover up defects in the home. I have earned the ASP designation (Accredited Staging Professional) and I found her article to be very insulting. The article cites scenarios such as sellers using an area rug to cover up damaged flooring or curtains to hide rotted window sills. Covering up defects and misleading buyers is not staging!!! It is wrong and a real estate professional, with or without the ASP designation, will advise a seller not to even consider doing such a thing.

In addition, the seller is required to complete the Real Estate Transfer Disclosure Statement and most agents are requesting that the seller also complete the Seller Property Questionnaire. The agents on both sides of the transaction are also required to do a visual inspection of the property. The purpose of all these forms is to make the buyer aware of any known material defects in the property. On top of this, it is always recommended that a buyer get a professional third party inspection.

One of the things staging does is to depersonalize a home. This not only helps to sell the house faster, it also makes it easier for buyers to picture themselves in the home.

Staging a home is a good thing.  Covering up or concealing known defects is very bad.

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