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SELECTED ARTICLES

STAGING HOMES FOR SALE

|1. Have a garage sale before the home is listed. Get rid of clutter to allow the buyer|  |  |

|to really see your home. Pack away everything you can and clean out items you won't | |  |

|need in your next home. Homebuyers will expect you to be preparing to move, so a few | |  |

|packing boxes here and there can be used to your advantage. They could be a good | |  |

|visual stimulant to someone who is "on the fence;" they show that you are moving and | |  |

|are serious about finding a buyer. | |  |

|2. Welcome the buyer at the entry. Put out a new doormat, but avoid mats with cutesy | |  |

|sayings. Clean and polish the brass door knocker. Put potted flowers on the porch. | |  |

|Make sure the front entry floor is always sparkling clean and the porch and steps are | |  |

|always swept. First impressions count. | |  |

|3. Stimulate buyers' imaginations. Set the dinner table with your best china. Use the | | |

|coziness and romance of the fireplace to advantage. Put a pair of wine glasses and a | | |

|vase of flowers on the coffee table in front of the fire. Your goal is to set a scene | | |

|that will encourage buyers to imagine themselves living in your home. | | |

|4. Be ruthless about odors. If there is a smell, your house won't sell. Use cleansers | | |

|of all kinds to make the home smell fresh, from carpet freshener to potpourri. | | |

|Deodorize cat litter and scoop litter daily. Put cedar chips inside the closets. | | |

|However, be careful when using room sprays as they can irritate allergies. You can | | |

|also use the sense of smell to your advantage by having fresh-baked cookies on the | | |

|kitchen table, creating a welcoming sensual environment for your potential buyers. | | |

|5. Create a spacious feeling. Make sure that all doors, cabinets and drawers open all | | |

|the way without bumping into anything or sticking. Clean out the entry closet and put | | |

|only a few hangers in it, so that the buyer can visualize winter coats. Move oversized| | |

|furniture to a storage facility. Make sure entrances to all rooms have an open flow. | | |

|6. Make the most of views. Disguise unsightly views. Put a screen or a basket of | | |

|flowers in front of a fireplace if it isn't in use. Let breezes move your sheer | | |

|curtains at the window. Make sure the interior is visible from the street. All windows| | |

|must be crystal clean and clear. | | |

|7. Create counter space. Store away extra appliances. Put away dish racks, soap dishes| | |

|and other clutter. Decrease kitchen clutter further by removing magnets from the | | |

|refrigerator. | | |

|8. Avoid eccentric decor. De-personalize your teenager's room, the game room or other | | |

|areas by removing wild posters or any decorative item that could be construed as | | |

|offensive. Remove decorations which might not appeal to the masses, from hanging beads| | |

|in doorways to jars where your children store their spider collections. | | |

|9. Let there be light. Increase the wattage in light bulbs in the laundry room, | | |

|kitchen and bathrooms. For showings, turn on lights in every room. | | |

|10. Show how your family made the house a home. Put photos of your the family enjoying| | |

|your home in at least three different places. | | |

|Now, tell your customer to step back, stand outside the front door, as much as 30 feet| | |

|away, and evaluate the feeling they get. Is the house warm and inviting? Does it feel | | |

|like home? Then perhaps it will to buyers, too. Sometimes it's the little things that | | |

|make the biggest difference. | | |

| | | |

|(c) Copyright 2002 Realty Times. Reprinted with permission. | | |

Some things you can do to ensure your home's exterior lands favorable first impressions include:

• Stay on top of your lawn mowing and maintenance and tidy up your front landscaping.

• Plop a new, colorful welcome mat in front of the door.

• Embellish your door area with a nice, big potted plant to the side of the front door.

• Slap a fresh coat of paint on your door.

• Move all the toys, bicycles, and scooters away from the front of the house.

• Clean all your windows until they're sparkling.

• Invest in a new doorknob and lock - this will jazz up your door and provide greater security.

• Make sure your street numerals are polished and in place. Or, invest in a nice new set that stands out among your neighbors' standard numerals.

• Place a seasonal wreath or arrangement on your door.

• Repair any loose shingles - the last thing a potential buyer wants to worry about is the roof.

• Paint and repair your gutters.

Once the exterior wows your potential buyers, you'll need to continue to make an impact on them when they make their way inside. You can almost think of it as preparing for a formal dinner party. For starters, you can:

• Remove all the clutter - make sure kitchen and bathroom countertops are as clear as possible, try to keep toys organized in closets and shelves, temporarily remove any excess knickknacks or family photos if you tend to have a lot.

• Hang fresh clean towels in the bathrooms.

• Touch up your paint if your walls have a few rough spots. You probably already have the extra paint sitting in your garage.

• Vacuum your floor each morning. You may also want to think about getting your carpets clean before potential buyers view your house.

• Make sure all your faucets are drip-free.

• Replace any nonfunctioning bulbs in your light fixtures and vanities.

• Thoroughly clean all your appliances, including the inside of your oven and microwave.

• Place a beautiful centerpiece in the center of your dining room table.

• Eliminate odors as much as possible - place potpourri in the bathrooms, use air freshener and deodorizer, especially if you have indoor pets or there's a smoker in the house.

• Let the light in - open all your blinds and curtains. If your house's natural light leaves some rooms dark during certain portions of the day, turn on the lights if you know your house may be shown that day. If you have any decorative or track lighting, be sure it is on.

• Clean your fireplace.

• If you have too much furniture, place some of it in storage.

• Add some final touches, a couple of fresh bouquets of flowers and some nice potted plants in decorative containers can do wonders.

Basically, just use common sense. Remember that everyone has his or her own style. You're not trying to impress with your particular brand of décor. Rather, you're trying to present a simple, clean, attractive home that exudes potential - an empty, yet enticing, palette for your home's next owners.

Published: July 16, 2002

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• Before the property is placed on the market, sell, donate, or toss out things you no longer want or use.

• Straighten up and put away.

• Turn on soft lighting.

• Have soft music playing.

• Bake cookies, and have a fresh batch sitting on the kitchen counter for your guests.

• Make sure the front yard looks neat and presentable. Plant a few flowers.

• Touch up the paint on the front door and shutters.

• Remove dogs and cats while the property is being shown.

Another strategy recommended by some brokers works like this: "depersonalize" your home.

If you've ever been on the market for a home, what caused you to say "No, not this one." There may be clear reasons such as the size or layout of the home, but it's also quite possible that other factors contributed to your negative view: hidden factors not readily apparent.

Let's say a buyer walks into a home and spots a collection of soccer trophies on the mantel, a large assortment of family photographs, ranging from formal to playful group shots, souvenirs from your last family vacation, pictures of the family dog, and other personal items. What happens to buyers when they spot these items?

They're distracted. They focus on the clutter and not on the layout of the home and its architectural advantages. If they've viewed several homes that day, they have trouble remembering which house is which.

More importantly, buyers may have trouble imagining their personal items in the same setting because the home is so obviously an expression of its present owners.

But of course personal items are there, you say. The owners still live there, why not?

The catch is that when you place your home on the market, it's no longer your home; it's a property to be sold. The result is that you've got to take out the emotion content -- the ties to you and you memories.

Why depersonalize? So buyers can "see" the home as it will look with their possessions.

You may have to rent storage space -- and it may be discomforting -- to depersonalize, but remember that your goal is to sell quickly and with the best possible price and terms.

For more articles by Courtney Ronan, please press here.

Published: March 16, 2001

You've heard the expression "Sell the sizzle, not the steak." Selling a home is just like marketing any other product. The more effort you put into the marketing, the more results you are likely to see in terms of activity and offers.

The first thing to realize is that whatever condition your home is in, it probably is not in "show" condition. There are items we learn to live with to the point that we forget the little eyesores and honey-do's that never got done. Over the years, clutter accumulates. Our eyes adjust to that low light and that fading paint color. We love the home as it is, and fail to see what the home is like compared to others. Other homes - your competition - may be in show condition. If yours isn't, it will look tired by comparison.

Second, your buyer is going to view your home with the opposite attitude from yours. You are presenting something you are proud of - the buyer is going to do his/her best to find as much wrong with it as possible. If they find too much wrong with it, they'll walk. If they like the house, they will try to find enough wrong with it to make a lower offer. The reason they do that is to get you to lower the price.

You see - the buyer and the seller are opposites. You are trying to sell the home for the most money - the buyer is trying to buy it for the least. Obviously you are going to have to meet in the middle somewhere.

Your best strategy to stick to your goal is to disarm the buyer before they even get through the door. Make them want the house so much from the time they drive up in front that they are willing to come up in price to get it.

That's called curb appeal.

What makes curb appeal? Curb appeal is an intangible, subjective quality - but it is the one thing that can really sell a house. It is that quality that makes the buyer start thinking emotionally instead of practically. It builds desire, the desire to own and to live a certain lifestyle that the exterior of the home appears to advertise. It can take you back to your childhood to when you had a home just like this one with the flowers in the front and the winding walkway to the door, and a beautiful brass door-knocker on the front door. It is the quality that makes you want to go inside.

That is why if you have a limited budget to spend on marketing your home, you want to put the majority of it toward sprucing up the front entrance to your home. And a lot of improvement you can do with a little elbow grease.

• Clear away anything dead - dead leaves, dead flowers. Trim the trees, lift the canopies.

• Replace flower beds with fresh blooming flowers. If you don't have time to grow them from seed, just go buy a few plants.

• Paint the front door and anything else that needs painting. Try to choose a neutral color that goes with the brick, roof or trim of your home.

• Open the front curtains and shutters. Light the lamps.

• Put out a clean, new welcome mat

• Polish the brass doorknocker, the mail box, light fixtures, and address numbers.

• If you have a front porch, keep it swept clean. clean the furniture and put nice, new pillows on the chairs.

• Keep the garage door closed. Put bikes, tricycles and children's toys out of the way.

• Safely lock away pets. If you have a pet who remains in the back yard, let the showing agent know in advance. If your dog is a barker, overly protective, or otherwise ill-mannered, arrange to board it somewhere else during showings.

What your buyer sees from the street is the first impression s/he will have of your home. You want it to be a good one, especially if there is a home down the street for sale that may be a little bit prettier, a little bit bigger, or a little bit something more. Don't worry, you aren't out of the running yet.

Remember, your buyer's first impression of the exterior of the home is important because it sets the tone for the rest of the buyer's walk through. If our buyer has fallen in love with the exterior, s/he will look more favorably on what s/he finds inside.

More Homeowners' Advice

Published: February 5, 1999

You’ve decided to sell your home. Like most people, you’d like it to sell quickly and for the best possible price. It’s a competitive market with strong competition among sellers. So before you put your home on the market, there are some things you can do to differentiate your house among the competitors.

Your first concern is the exterior. If the outside, or "curb appeal" looks good, people will more than likely want to see what’s on the inside. Keep the lawn and landscape nicely manicured. Trim the bushes and season permitting, plant some flowers. Be sure your front door area has a "Welcome" feeling. A fresh coat of paint on the front door looks great.

Of all the rooms inside your home, pay special attention to the kitchen and bathrooms. They should look as modern, bright and fresh as possible. It is essential for them to be clean and odor free. A fresh coat of paint just may do the trick. Have any leaky faucets taken care of. A call to a plumber is a wise investment.

Since you want your home to look as spacious as possible, remove any excess or very large furniture. Make sure that table tops, dressers and closets are free of clutter. Don’t use your garage, attic, or basement to store these extra things. These areas also need to have the impression of space. Instead, put them into storage.

Make sure walls and doors are free of smudges and look for anything that might indicate a maintenance problem, such as cracked windows, holes in the wall or stained ceilings. Finally, if your basement shows any signs of dampness or leakage, seal the walls.

Quick tips for showings:

• Keep counter tops cleared

• Replace all burned out lightbulbs

• Open all drapes and window blinds

• Put pets in cages or take them to a neighbor

• No dirty dishes in the sink

• No laundry in the washer/dryer

• Clean or replace dirty or worn carpets

• Put on soft music

• Burn wood in the fireplace on cold days;

• Clean fireplace when not in use

Always look at your home from the buyer’s point of view. Be objective and be honest.

Related Articles:

When you decide to sell your home you face an interesting dilemma. You have to put yourself into the shoes of a prospective buyer and realize that what looks fantastic to you may look terrible to the person walking through your home with a critical eye. And as we've all heard, the "psychology" of first impressions can clinch the sell or cause the prospective buyer to walk out and move on to the next house. Something as seemingly trivial as those pink curtains in your dining room can color the prospective buyer's entire outlook.

Many Realtors are savvy to these subtleties, of course, and should you use the services of a Realtor, you'll want to take his or her advice to heart without becoming defensive about your decorating preferences. Not all Realtors, however, are tuned in to such matters unless your preferences are so outrageous that it would be impossible not to notice them and suggest a change. Chances are good you're going to have to do a little assessment on your own.

We always hear about the "curb appeal" of homes, and while that's critical, the inside is what lands the sale. Your goal should be to neutralize your home. You have no idea what the decorating tastes of your prospective buyers will be; therefore, you've got to tone down the interior of your home to make it applicable and agreeable to nearly any taste. For all you know, your prospective buyer could own a velvet green sofa. As she walks into your living room and spots those Pepto Bismol-pink walls, she'll either immediately dismiss the house as a possibility, or she'll begin to become discouraged as she envisions all of the work she'll have to do upon move-in (such as painting) in order to make the interior more compatible with her furniture and general decorating preferences.

Paint those walls white or some other soft neutral shade, on the other hand, and that velvet green sofa will fit in just fine. She'll want to see more, and you've improved your chances of a sale. Your job as a seller is to have your prospective buyers envision themselves, their family and their furniture in your home as they walk though it. Keep the color consistent throughout your home; in other words, don't paint the living room white and keep the guest room red or some other offbeat shade. You can try different neutral shades, of course, but this isn't the time for experimentation. Remember also that neutral shades can create the illusion of larger rooms.

Part of "neutralizing" is cleaning. Your prospective buyers won't be able to envision their belongings in your home if they can't see the floor. So you've got to clean it ruthlessly. Have the carpets professionally cleaned, throw away as much clutter as you can, clear off your shelves and organize your closets. Take as much out as you can (now is the perfect time to hold a garage sale). Excessive clutter creates stress and turns off prospective buyers. Want proof? Imagine your desk at work, covered in paper. It looks like a tornado just ripped through the room. Is that a room you want to enter, kick off your shoes and stay a while?

The same principle applies in your home -- only the stakes are greater. So create as much breathing room as you can, and clear as many objects d'art out of the way as you can. If you own any conversation pieces that are an acquired taste, you may want to store those away temporarily. With an upcoming move, you needed to throw things away, anyway. Now is the perfect time to do it. Remind yourself that you're helping your chances of a sale -- and you're getting rid of clutter that would detract from your new home. In short, simplicity eliminates stress for buyers and sellers.

Take a look at your floors. Is your carpet a limiting shade? Is it bright? Stained? Faded or just plain ugly? You don't want to go through the expense of replacing carpeting, of course, but clean it well, and move your furniture around if you want to distract your prospective buyers from worn areas. Place a floor rug or two in your living room or kitchen area. Clean those tile floors, and wax your linoleum. You may not love the patterns on the tiles, and your prospective buyers may not, either, but if you keep things clean and take pride in your home's presentation, chances are much greater that buyers will be willing to overlook their differences in opinion on flooring shades and design.

You'll also want to take a good, hard look at your window treatments. Homeowners are often so preoccupied with their busy schedules -- especially when a move is imminent -- that they forget to notice that their window treatments are extremely outdated. This might seem to be a subtle detail, but it's a crucial one. Neutral, once again, is the rule of the game here. Yank off anything that reflects your offbeat taste. You want those buyers to see something that complements their own decor. And don't forget to clean your windows; there's nothing worse than fingerprints and smudges.

Even if your budget doesn't afford anything fancy, you can find relatively inexpensive, yet pleasing window treatments (simple curtains, draperies, even balloon shades) at your local home decor store or home improvement center. If you already have blinds or wooden shades on your windows that provide privacy, this is a plus (as are energy-saving window coverings that block or absorb excessive sunlight and heat). Your buyer won't have to invest in window treatments, which represent a considerable expense. If, however, your existing blinds are outdated (for example, Venetian blinds) or bent, remove them and replace them with an inexpensive yet tasteful option.

Although making these modifications to your home might seem to be a bit of a headache, you'll be rewarded with a buyer in considerably less time than you would have otherwise. You may even get more for your home than you expected. If, during this process, you have trouble placing yourself into the shoes of buyers you've never met, consider the details that "sold" you on the home to which you're preparing to move. Chances are good that it wasn't Pepto Bismol-pink walls or magenta carpeting that sold you. It was probably your ability to envision your own furniture, your possessions and your family within a seemingly compatible, neutral environment.

Published: April 13, 2000

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