Archive for tag Staging to sell
July 23, 2010 at 03:12 PM
Why is my house not selling?
Once a house has been on the market for a while, homeowners begin questioning why the house has not sold. Those who are working with a licensed Realtor may be getting frustrated and may feel pressured to drop the price until an offer is made. Take heart – it is NOT the only option!
When a Realtor lists a house, information on other homes for sale in the area is gathered. The Realtor compares location, size, garages, basements, and other aspects of the homes and uses the information to price the house competitively for the area. If this has been done, why are no buyers interested?
The first thing to look at is the house itself. What can be done to spruce it up? A new coat of paint can make each room look cleaner. Floors can be waxed, deep cleaned, or refinished to make them more attractive to buyers. In the kitchen and bath, replacing hardware can update cabinets and totally change the look. Removing personal items will not only make your home look bigger, but will also help potential buyers picture themselves in the space. The easier it is for buyers to visualize themselves living there, the more likely they are to write an offer.
If you’ve taken care of the inside, turn your attention to the exterior of the house. Curb appeal influences the buyer’s opinion before they even enter the house. If the house looks nice outside, buyers will have positive thoughts right from the start. Trim any trees or shrubs. Power-wash the walkway. Paint or stain the deck or patio and wash the outdoor furniture. The exterior of the house itself can be cleaned with a hose and brush, if needed. Pulling weeds, edging the lawn, and fixing dead spots in the grass with patch kits will freshen up the yard.
These simple little projects will give your house a whole new look that will attract buyers without dropping the price. Share any improvements you make with your Realtor so the listing information and pictures can be updated to make your house as attractive as possible!
Posted by: 
Tim Wright
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April 27, 2010 at 12:00 AM
The name of the game when preparing your home for sale is Imagination. You want potential buyers to be able to imagine themselves – and their stuff – in the house and you have to help them out. Following these 4 tips will help buyers imagine what a great home your house can be!
Store It: If you are moving because you have more stuff than space, get some space! Rent storage somewhere. If you suffer from separation anxiety, there are many storage rental options that you can have delivered to your home. Hide It: Most people have shelves, counters and walls featuring things that aren’t necessary for everyday life. You want buyers to picture their things in those spots, so hide away all of yours. CAUTION – Don’t throw everything in a closet or c
upboard! Buyers want to know what kind of storage you have and they will open every door in the place. Keep storage spaces uncluttered, too. Depersonalize It: Your children are adorable, but unless they come with the house, buyers don’t need to know what they look like. Take down pictures and religious items. Neutralize rooms that have personal themes – like the picket fence in your daughter’s room or the powder room that you wallpapered with pictures from your trip to Europe.
Clean It: Once you have your house in order, make sure it is clean! Buyers can’t imagine themselves in your house if they are focused on the dust bunnies in the corner and the grease on the range hood.
Posted by: Tim Wright
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March 17, 2010 at 09:19 PM
I spent a year telling people how now is the best time to sell their house. The market is not going to return to 2006 any time quickly, if ever. The government is doing everything in their power to boost the housing market and if you want to sell, you need to take advantage. Then I decided to put my money where my mouth is, and made the big decision to sell my own house.
I knew our best chance to sell at a decent price was to make our house look as good as possible. I walked around looking at the house the way I thought a buyer would, and here is a list of most of the changes we made over six months of preparation.
- Landscaping. We dug out every overgrown thing in the yard and chopped
down trees that didn’t look their best. We planted smaller, showy perennials in hopes of pretty, spring curb-appeal. And mulch, mulch, mulch. Everywhere. Now that the snow is gone, that mulch still looks good and my pretty spring should come true.
- Door knobs. My house was built in the late 60’s and the door knobswere original. Most were broken or dented and those that weren’t just looked their age. Even when the afternoon project of swapping them out turned into three weeks because all new holes had to be drilled, 17 new doorknobs make the place look better. They aren’t a positive selling point, but we eliminated a definite negative.
- De-cluttering. I live like everyone else, I keep way too much stuff.
I made the commitment to take one load of that stuff to Goodwill every week. I whittled 10 boxes of old kid clothing down to one of just the special items. Attic and basement storage rooms are now clean and organized. Who wants to move that stuff anyhow?
- Replaced a screen door. We had a door with broken springs that slammed
shut, scaring us silly. No way did I want that door slamming on a potential buyer.
- Replaced stained carpeting. People often say to me, I’ll just lower the price and the buyer can pick out his own new carpet. It doesn’t work that way. Buyers just see shabby and dirty and wonder what else in the house is shabby.
- Window repair. I can’t afford all new windows. We sanded and re-stained all of them to at least make them look as good as possible.
- Painting. A can of paint is a cheap, but very effective, remodeling project. We left the dining room dramatic and painted everything else neutral tones from the white family of paint chips.
- Cleaning. With a hairy dog and little kids, my house was not something to show off. We gutted rooms, scrubbed floors and walls, organized closets and drawers. We turned the house into what we always wished our house was really like. We also had the carpeting and furniture all professionally cleaned (and the dog groomed to keep it that way).
- More decluttering. That permanent clutter we needed to keep went in the nine bins that previously housed children’s clothing and are neatly arranged in the clean attic area. We’re pretending that’s what that area always looked like.
- Hired a stager. You’d think I know it all, but my house is still my house. We can’t see things the way a stranger does.
We’ve been on the market almost a week. Three showings, no offers. The stress of waiting begins!
Posted by:
Barbara Bay
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