How to Really Declutter Your Home for Buyers
By: Bob Lipply
Your real estate agent has come to your house to assess what needs to be done to sell it the quickest. The word, "declutter," continues to come up. You assure your agent that you are a very neat person and that everything will be clean when the potential buyers come to view it. Many sellers encounter the same situation each day. What agents wish their clients would understand is that decluttering is more than just keeping the baseboards dust-free and the countertops wiped down. Try some of the following tips and wow your real estate agent, and especially, your buyers.
With pen, paper and clipboard in hand, tour the outside of your home, then the inside. As much as possible, pretend that you don't own the house and even that you've never seen the place. You will quickly see what your real estate agent meant by decluttering when you use this new perspective. Write down anything which is the least bit offensive to the eye, including unruly hoses, toys in the front yard, a busy mantle above the fireplace and newspapers stacked up in the laundry room. The list will seem longer the more times you go through the process. However, the more you notice, the more prepared your home will be for eagle-eyed buyers.
The biggest stumbling block for sellers preparing their home for the market is their lingering attachment to their house. From repainting a room neutral, to taking family photos off the wall, sellers must accept that their time in that particular house is coming to an end. To counteract this mental block, take your most personal items out of rooms first. Get plenty of clear plastic tubs, or boxes to store your items. Treat the decluttering process as if you are preparing a model home for viewing. In order to sell your home, you have to give the buyers room to imagine their personal belongings. Little forward-thinking daydreams about decorating your new abode should also counteract those strong attachments.
A good round of decluttering will often leave you with a pile of boxes and bins to contend with. Although stacking them up in a closet seems like a nice, out-of-the-way option, this may not be the best choice. Consider that closet space is often one of the key selling points for a home. Closets should look as impeccable as possible. This will aid greatly in creating a spacious feeling. If the closets are crowded and messy, the buyer may think that your home is just not big enough, even if it has the square footage they want.
Your garage is the most acceptable place for storage in the mind of the buyers. Of course, not everyone has this luxury. If you can convince a family member, friend, or even a neighbor to let you store those boxes and crates, then take advantage of the opportunity. However, if you really need or want your storage items in the house, then try to stack them up in the least conspicuous place you can find. A playroom or basement can usually stand to have a few of these bins stashed in the corner. Better yet, think about renting a temporary storage facility to house these things.
Despite all your efforts, be prepared to hear your Tampa Bay Florida real estate agent tell you that you still have too many belongings cluttering the house. If this happens, just remember that they're on your side and that they're the expert. Also, remember that a well-decluttered house is your quickest ticket to a "Sold!" sign.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
an essential merchandising tool for resale
Home Staging - an essential merchandising tool for resale
By: Sveta Melchuk
If you are wondering what Home Staging (or House Fluffing) is all about, here is a definition for you: MSN Encarta dictionary defines Home Staging as the act of "beautifying a home for sale: cleaning, repairing and updating the decor and furnishings of an older home to make it more attractive when shown to potential buyers." Actually, I believe that ANY home can use some staging before being put on the market. Remember, the way we live in a home and the way we want to sell a property are two completely different things. When we sell a property, there is no room for emotions - after all, it's probably our biggest financial investment and, so, we want the biggest possible return on it!
The concept dates from 1970s, when a California realtor and decorator noticed that the properties she took the time to «stage» sold faster and for more money than the average. Today, it's an important marketing/merchandizing tool in the USA (and spreading to Canada from the West) for the realtors and the home owners alike and it's especially important in a slow market, where you need every advantage over your competition. TV shows, such as Designed to Sell and Flip that House demonstrate that a bit of effort and a small investment can transform a property and make a BIG difference at sale time!
The logic is strikingly simple: when you decide to sell your used car, wouldn't you clean, wash and fix it up before reselling it? You should do the same for your house, which is probably your biggest investment and presents an opportunity for a biggest return.
First impressions count for a lot, especially today, when most buyers pre-select the properties they are interested in on Internet. If your photos don't show your house at its best, you are probably missing out on dozens of potential buyers. The same is true for the visitors - when they come, make them feel «at home», create that first impression which will make them fall for YOUR house.
Statistics vary from marketplace to marketplace but, on average, a staged home can sell 30%-50% faster and for 2%-10% more money than a comparable unstaged home. So, a few hundred dollars invested can bring you back thousands! And a home staging consultation costs a lot less than a first price reduction on the property.
A professional Staging consultant looks at your property with a buyer's eye and will recommend some easy and inexpensive solutions to enhance its value - such as decluttering, depersonalizing, and reorganizing your furniture and artwork.
The end result: your house «shows» better than its competition andscaping.
Take a picture of the front of your house with you as you visit nurseries and garden shops. Garden professionals can suggest which colors and varieties will work best for your particular home. They should also be able to tell you what kind of mulch, pebble or lava stones you should use for each. The colors of these can also add a lovely contrast of color.Plant a few annuals near the mailbox and an odd number of shrubs or hedges in front of the house to create depth. Make your house inviting with colors that compliment, but don't complicate. If your house is basic in design, plant a few romantic Magnolias or exotic Calathea to break up the lines. Likewise, a house with a modern exterior can be dressed down for the conservative eye with neatly trimmed Serissa Foetida hedges and simple splashes of annuals.
If you want something even more simple, try buying big, decorative pots and filling them with a few shades of hardy flowers. This takes care of catching the eyes of the buyer, yet implies the perfect level of impermanence for the more fickle-natured. You can offer to leave the pots, or take them with you if the buyer doesn't want them. This can be a quick fix for those who are trying to move, sell and maintain a family and full-time job at the same time. There are plenty of ways to get elaborate with landscaping, but if you need to keep things easy, focus on complimentary colors, hearty specimens and as neat of an exterior as possible, so buyers and visitors will see your house as a breath of fresh, tropical air.
By: Sveta Melchuk
If you are wondering what Home Staging (or House Fluffing) is all about, here is a definition for you: MSN Encarta dictionary defines Home Staging as the act of "beautifying a home for sale: cleaning, repairing and updating the decor and furnishings of an older home to make it more attractive when shown to potential buyers." Actually, I believe that ANY home can use some staging before being put on the market. Remember, the way we live in a home and the way we want to sell a property are two completely different things. When we sell a property, there is no room for emotions - after all, it's probably our biggest financial investment and, so, we want the biggest possible return on it!
The concept dates from 1970s, when a California realtor and decorator noticed that the properties she took the time to «stage» sold faster and for more money than the average. Today, it's an important marketing/merchandizing tool in the USA (and spreading to Canada from the West) for the realtors and the home owners alike and it's especially important in a slow market, where you need every advantage over your competition. TV shows, such as Designed to Sell and Flip that House demonstrate that a bit of effort and a small investment can transform a property and make a BIG difference at sale time!
The logic is strikingly simple: when you decide to sell your used car, wouldn't you clean, wash and fix it up before reselling it? You should do the same for your house, which is probably your biggest investment and presents an opportunity for a biggest return.
First impressions count for a lot, especially today, when most buyers pre-select the properties they are interested in on Internet. If your photos don't show your house at its best, you are probably missing out on dozens of potential buyers. The same is true for the visitors - when they come, make them feel «at home», create that first impression which will make them fall for YOUR house.
Statistics vary from marketplace to marketplace but, on average, a staged home can sell 30%-50% faster and for 2%-10% more money than a comparable unstaged home. So, a few hundred dollars invested can bring you back thousands! And a home staging consultation costs a lot less than a first price reduction on the property.
A professional Staging consultant looks at your property with a buyer's eye and will recommend some easy and inexpensive solutions to enhance its value - such as decluttering, depersonalizing, and reorganizing your furniture and artwork.
The end result: your house «shows» better than its competition andscaping.
Take a picture of the front of your house with you as you visit nurseries and garden shops. Garden professionals can suggest which colors and varieties will work best for your particular home. They should also be able to tell you what kind of mulch, pebble or lava stones you should use for each. The colors of these can also add a lovely contrast of color.Plant a few annuals near the mailbox and an odd number of shrubs or hedges in front of the house to create depth. Make your house inviting with colors that compliment, but don't complicate. If your house is basic in design, plant a few romantic Magnolias or exotic Calathea to break up the lines. Likewise, a house with a modern exterior can be dressed down for the conservative eye with neatly trimmed Serissa Foetida hedges and simple splashes of annuals.
If you want something even more simple, try buying big, decorative pots and filling them with a few shades of hardy flowers. This takes care of catching the eyes of the buyer, yet implies the perfect level of impermanence for the more fickle-natured. You can offer to leave the pots, or take them with you if the buyer doesn't want them. This can be a quick fix for those who are trying to move, sell and maintain a family and full-time job at the same time. There are plenty of ways to get elaborate with landscaping, but if you need to keep things easy, focus on complimentary colors, hearty specimens and as neat of an exterior as possible, so buyers and visitors will see your house as a breath of fresh, tropical air.
Monday, December 1, 2008
real estate for you
Home Buying and Selling-Do you Need a Buyer's Agent and a Selling Agent?
by Nancy Niblett
Some people will tell you that when it comes time to sell your home and buy a new one that you should hire a Selling or Listing Agent and a separate buyer's agent because one specializes in selling a home and one specialist and buying homes. That may have been true years ago but in today's buying and selling real estate market there is so much more to consider when picking your listing and buying agents. First and foremost make sure you have a fully licensed Realtor that has experience. It is difficult enough in this market to trust your biggest asset to just anyone.While selling your home is very important and a listing agent should know how to best sell your home by pricing correctly, tips on staging and decorating as well as marketing and making your home look as desirable as possible on the multiple listing system as well as to potential buyers on the internet and print marketing. Keep in mind that they can advise you what is best but you ultimately set the list price. Setting the price too high in today's market will be detrimental in so many ways. You are competing with bank owned homes, short sales and desperate sellers. If you are not getting traffic the very first thing is to look at the price. While having an agent that knows how to list your homes but that is what they "specialize" in and do not represent buyers themselves may sound like the ultimate person to have but think about this: If the listing agent is not out there with buyers, seeing other homes in this marketplace and staying on top of what buyers want and see then are they really the one you want listing your home? Sure, any realtor can take great photos, give decorating tips and should be proficient in pricing and marketing but then what?
Your next step may be to buy a home when yours sells; does that mean you use a different agent? Well, if a "listing" specialist is just that, then may you do? A full service agent is one that would be proficient not only on listing your home but assisting in finding the right home as well because when they buyer and their agent comes along to buy your home, I would hope your listing agent knows buying strategies that they buyers agent would already know. Staying on top of both buying and selling is a more "full service" type of representative. Beside the fact that they know both ends of the deal, you are likely to get a discount on selling your homes if you conduct two transactions with them.
I have heard that some people use a buyer's agent to buy and a listing agent to sell. To me that sounds like a little bit of a cop out, we all know that any agent should know how to do both. A buyer's agent is likely a more inexperienced agent working for the much too busy listing agent that has no time to take personal care of their own clients. I would expect my agent to not only know what is going on with the selling of my property but to stay on top of my needs as a buyer as well. Find yourself a well experienced agent that handles all of your needs well.
If you are looking for a nice Arizona home, check out homes for sale in Power Ranch. You may also want to look at homes for sale in Seville, both of these communities are in Gilbert, AZ.
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Real estate Buying and selling
Home Buying and Selling-Do you Need a Buyer's Agent and a Selling Agent?
by Nancy Niblett
Some people will tell you that when it comes time to sell your home and buy a new one that you should hire a Selling or Listing Agent and a separate buyer's agent because one specializes in selling a home and one specialist and buying homes. That may have been true years ago but in today's buying and selling real estate market there is so much more to consider when picking your listing and buying agents. First and foremost make sure you have a fully licensed Realtor that has experience. It is difficult enough in this market to trust your biggest asset to just anyone.While selling your home is very important and a listing agent should know how to best sell your home by pricing correctly, tips on staging and decorating as well as marketing and making your home look as desirable as possible on the multiple listing system as well as to potential buyers on the internet and print marketing. Keep in mind that they can advise you what is best but you ultimately set the list price. Setting the price too high in today's market will be detrimental in so many ways. You are competing with bank owned homes, short sales and desperate sellers. If you are not getting traffic the very first thing is to look at the price. While having an agent that knows how to list your homes but that is what they "specialize" in and do not represent buyers themselves may sound like the ultimate person to have but think about this: If the listing agent is not out there with buyers, seeing other homes in this marketplace and staying on top of what buyers want and see then are they really the one you want listing your home? Sure, any realtor can take great photos, give decorating tips and should be proficient in pricing and marketing but then what?Your next step may be to buy a home when yours sells; does that mean you use a different agent? Well, if a "listing" specialist is just that, then may you do? A full service agent is one that would be proficient not only on listing your home but assisting in finding the right home as well because when they buyer and their agent comes along to buy your home, I would hope your listing agent knows buying strategies that they buyers agent would already know. Staying on top of both buying and selling is a more "full service" type of representative. Beside the fact that they know both ends of the deal, you are likely to get a discount on selling your homes if you conduct two transactions with them.
I have heard that some people use a buyer's agent to buy and a listing agent to sell. To me that sounds like a little bit of a cop out, we all know that any agent should know how to do both. A buyer's agent is likely a more inexperienced agent working for the much too busy listing agent that has no time to take personal care of their own clients. I would expect my agent to not only know what is going on with the selling of my property but to stay on top of my needs as a buyer as well. Find yourself a well experienced agent that handles all of your needs well.
If you are looking for a nice Arizona home, check out homes for sale in Power Ranch. You may also want to look at homes for sale in Seville, both of these communities are in Gilbert, AZ.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Nevada Real Estate property
Buying a Nevada Real Estate property
by Elton Jenkins
Most of the advisers in the field of real estate state that keeping a property for a minimum of five years is the key to profits. However, while it stands true in some cases, in depleting markets, it cannot be the prevailing case. Depending on the market conditions, one can decide whether the timing is right for investment or not. As a rule, time your investment and selling such that you do not buy high while selling for low. If you see that the market conditions of your place are relaxing, you relax too. Do not be in a hurry to sell your property. Let the markets rise before selling your property. Next, keep an update on the market conditions. If the market is seen to be at its peak, wait till the market relaxes before making an investment. Are you interested in buying a home? Consider Nevada for the purpose. If you buy condos or a house in Henderson, Las Vegas, NV; it will be a good decision for sure. These places have got luxury homes, condos those are also close to schools and hospitals. The fact is, for most investors, investing at the right time is the key to making money or recovering costs from an investment. While most seasoned investors are well aware and informed about the market conditions, how can a new or first time investor or buyer realize if the timing is right for the investment?
Do calculate your gain before you decide to sell. Make use of the down payment value, the total property value, your income bracket, interest rate and current market appreciation rates to find out if you have earned ample profits. On an average, it is seen that more equity can be recovered the longer you keep a property.
For all those who are not too high on the financial cushion, considering a few personal questions is greatly required. Most commonly, people lose out on their property to foreclosure due to loss of job, divorce or bad health.
In order to not all into the same category, ask yourself a few questions. See if you will be shifting from a place in less than five years; or getting married; or having kids; or switching your job; or have a bad credit score or have filed for bankruptcy recently. If any of these questions have an affirmative answer, hold still. This is not the right time for you to invest. Let the conditions get more stable, with job and relationship security and such before you jump onto any further expenses of buying a property.
Another factor to consider is your credit score. You need to identify which situation you would better go for - high interest rate and cheaper property or lower interest rate and costlier property. All those with bad credit score will be maintaining the former situation. In case you want to shift to the latter one, wait for about a year and work towards improving your credit score. Better credit score means lower interest rates. Hence, you can easily gain from the low interest rate situation, while paying for a slightly costlier property. Work the financial details out with a financial expert before deciding on any one issue.
by Elton Jenkins
Most of the advisers in the field of real estate state that keeping a property for a minimum of five years is the key to profits. However, while it stands true in some cases, in depleting markets, it cannot be the prevailing case. Depending on the market conditions, one can decide whether the timing is right for investment or not. As a rule, time your investment and selling such that you do not buy high while selling for low. If you see that the market conditions of your place are relaxing, you relax too. Do not be in a hurry to sell your property. Let the markets rise before selling your property. Next, keep an update on the market conditions. If the market is seen to be at its peak, wait till the market relaxes before making an investment. Are you interested in buying a home? Consider Nevada for the purpose. If you buy condos or a house in Henderson, Las Vegas, NV; it will be a good decision for sure. These places have got luxury homes, condos those are also close to schools and hospitals. The fact is, for most investors, investing at the right time is the key to making money or recovering costs from an investment. While most seasoned investors are well aware and informed about the market conditions, how can a new or first time investor or buyer realize if the timing is right for the investment?
Do calculate your gain before you decide to sell. Make use of the down payment value, the total property value, your income bracket, interest rate and current market appreciation rates to find out if you have earned ample profits. On an average, it is seen that more equity can be recovered the longer you keep a property.
For all those who are not too high on the financial cushion, considering a few personal questions is greatly required. Most commonly, people lose out on their property to foreclosure due to loss of job, divorce or bad health.
In order to not all into the same category, ask yourself a few questions. See if you will be shifting from a place in less than five years; or getting married; or having kids; or switching your job; or have a bad credit score or have filed for bankruptcy recently. If any of these questions have an affirmative answer, hold still. This is not the right time for you to invest. Let the conditions get more stable, with job and relationship security and such before you jump onto any further expenses of buying a property.
Another factor to consider is your credit score. You need to identify which situation you would better go for - high interest rate and cheaper property or lower interest rate and costlier property. All those with bad credit score will be maintaining the former situation. In case you want to shift to the latter one, wait for about a year and work towards improving your credit score. Better credit score means lower interest rates. Hence, you can easily gain from the low interest rate situation, while paying for a slightly costlier property. Work the financial details out with a financial expert before deciding on any one issue.
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