House Calls

Holiday Decorating When Selling Your Home

At this time of year, clients whose houses are listed for sale ask me if they can decorate for the holidays or if they need to keep the decor neutral...my answer is: Yes! You can decorate. But take it easy. Less is always more when decorating to sell. Keep it simple and keep it non-religious, so as not to offend anyone.

For a great list of holiday decorating dos and don'ts, click here.

5 Things to Do Now to Sell Your House in 2010

If you are thinking of putting your house on the market next spring, don’t wait until then to start getting it ready to list. Traditionally, Super Bowl Sunday marks the beginning of the spring selling season in real estate, which means you’ve only got about three months to get your house in shape. Start now so that you can take advantage of the surge in buyer interest come next February.

 

Here are five things you can do right now to get ahead of the curve and ensure your home is ready to hit the MLS next spring:
 

1. Cut the clutter:  If you’re like most people, you’ve accumulated a lot of stuff over the years. Moving provides a great incentive to finally get rid of the junk you’ve been hoarding. Starting now will give you ample time to take that trip down memory lane as you go through old papers, letters, photographs and other mementos. If you set aside a couple hours to do this each weekend, by February you will have weeded out a lot and moving will be much less stressful.

 

2.  Improve curb appeal: Your yard will still be frozen on Super Bowl Sunday, so it makes sense to get some of those outdoor chores done now, while it’s still relatively mild out. Clean up the yard, edge the beds, fertilize the lawn and plant clusters of bulbs for a show of color in the spring. Make sure your front entry is as inviting as possible. Give the door and door frame a new coat of paint, polish the door knocker and make sure the house numbers, mailbox and porch lights are in a consistent style. In addition to making the house more attractive to future home buyers, you’ll also impress your holiday guests.

 

3.  Paint the interior: Nothing will give you more bang for the home improvement buck than a fresh coat of paint. Keep your potential buyer in mind and go for a neutral palette. Using the same color family in adjoining rooms will improve the flow of the house and tie everything together. And remember, neutral does not necessarily mean white or beige. In fact, white can be quite stark and cold, while beige can be boring and blah. Go for warmer tones in the main living areas to make the rooms more inviting.

 

4. Donate to a good cause:

This is the time to edit your wardrobe. Take everything out of the closet and force yourself to let go of those 80’s outfits and anything else you haven’t worn in a year. Be ruthless about what you get rid of. You will thank yourself when it comes time to move. This is also a great time to collect all the winter coats, boots and gloves your family has outgrown or grown tired of and donate them to the needy. Several organizations do winter coat drives for the homeless this time of year and would be thrilled to have your cast-offs.

 

5. Make a list of needed repairs: Go through your house, inside and out, and look at it objectively, as a buyer would. Write down everything that needs fixing. These are things you simply must take care of before listing your house. Otherwise, buyers will see small problems and wonder what bigger problems await them. Call a handyman and get those repairs done of by the end of January.

 

There will be lots more to do when your listing date gets closer, but taking care of these things now should make the whole process less stressful.

 

When Selling Your Home, Think Like a Marketer

Believe it or not, selling your home is really no different than selling a bottle of shampoo, a box of cereal or an automobile. So, when you go to put your home on the market, you need to approach it the same way as the people who are in charge of marketing those other products. Your real estate agent will be an invaluable resource in this regard, but to maximize your odds of success, it pays to take an active role in the marketing of this, your most valuable asset.

When you go to sell your home, the first thing you must realize is that it is NO LONGER YOUR HOME! It is a product for sale, and to be successful in selling it you have to employ the same kinds of strategies as you would to sell any other consumer product.

First, identify your target buyers and their needs and wants. Are you in a neighborhood that tends to attract young families, single professionals or empty nesters? Each of these groups is likely to want or need different things. Some of those needs are rational (space enough for a family of five, walking distance to the train, a good school district) and some are emotional (security, community, a certain lifestyle or a badge of success.). Remember that buyers may shop rationally with a list of features they need, but they buy the house that connects with them on an emotional level.

 Second, know your competition. What other listings are competing for the same buyer and what do those other houses offer? Think about both the rational features of the house and the emotional benefits it offers. How does it stack up to competitive listings? What are its strengths and weaknesses on the things that really matter to your target buyer? What are the unique and positive aspects of your home that can give it an edge over the competition?

 Third, “package” and “merchandise” your home to appeal to your target buyer and set it apart from your competition. Play up those points of superiority or uniqueness that you identified in step two. If you have been in your home for several years and your likely buyer is a young family, they are probably not going to appreciate some of the things that make this home for you. Instead, you need to think about what will make it feel like home to them. That means the wallpaper and those drapes with fussy swags and jabeaux will need to be replaced by a look from a Pottery Barn catalog. Show that young family how their children will enjoy playing in the large finished basement by staging it as a playroom and painting it a cheerful color. Stage the great room as a hip and comfortable hang-out where the family can watch TV together and play games. Show the couple how they can escape to their own private retreat by staging the master bedroom to look like a five star hotel.

 In this challenging real estate market, where the supply of houses for sale is greater than the number of buyers, having a house that’s clean and de-cluttered is not enough to get it sold. A seller must show target buyers how their house is a better value than the others on the market. This is accomplished by helping a buyer envision the lifestyle and emotional benefits that they can enjoy once they live in the house. A professional home stager has the training and experience to help you accomplish this. A stager can go through your home with you and provide you with a to do list if you want to do the work your self, or can provide hands-on staging services for a modest fee.

 

 

 

Quick Curb Appeal

Do your outdoor containers look like this?                                      

                            

Hey, it's APRIL! 
And although it sure doesn't feel like spring here in Chicago, you CAN get some springtime curb appeal. Even though the weather's only in the 30s and 40s right now, pansies thrive in cool weather and can give your house some much needed color.

If your house is on the market, a few pots with pansies or violas is so much more welcoming to potential buyers... and gives your home a happier vibe than all those houses still sporting dead flowers from last summer. And let's face it...in this market we need all the help we can get.

Go to your home center or local nursery and get some flowers now! It takes about 15 minutes to plant two containers. Make sure to get some pansy food and work it into the potting soil. You will get non-stop color until the weather gets hot in June.

Staging to Make a Dining Room Look Bigger

Often, one of the goals of staging is to make rooms look more spacious. Dining rooms can be a challenge due to the number and size of the pieces of furniture. Here are some tips to make your dining room look and feel bigger and more open:

1. Unless your dining room is very big, take the leaves out of the table so that there is plenty of space on both ends to walk around the table.

2. Use a maximum of four chairs at the table. Remove the others from the room. Do not line them up against the wall, as that just eats up space and gives the room a cluttered feeling.

3. If there is an oversized china cabinet, consider removing it. Or, if it has a top and a bottom, remove the top and use  the bottom as a server. This will visually open up the space.

4. If there is an area rug, make sure it is big enough to pull the chairs back 18 inches from the table and still be on the rug.

Think Twice Before Selling “As Is”

These days a lot of sellers anticipate losing money if they sell their home. If so, they should probably stay put unless they absolutely have to move. If they do find themselves in the position of having to move, they may wonder if they should spend a dime fixing up the place for sale…isn’t this throwing good money after bad? Even homeowners with lots of equity often figure the way to get the most out of the sale is to cut sales costs to a minimum.

This attitude is directly contrary to the notion that the way to make the most money on the sale of the home is by pricing the property appropriately for the market, and by making cost-effective improvements that will result in a higher sale price in a shorter time.

Here’s why selling “as is” isn’t usually in the best interest of the seller. Buyers who see things that need fixing or updating will discount the price of the house by what they estimate the repairs will cost, and they will usually round up to be on the safe side. Then they will discount it another 5-10% for the hassle factor. Let’s say the house would be worth $500,000 in good condition. But the exterior needs painting and the floors need refinishing. The buyer estimates these could cost $10,000.  He will not offer $490,000 or even $485,000 because he could buy a comparable home for $500,000 and not have the inconvenience of making the repairs. Instead, he would probably offer only $475,000. The seller could have made the repairs for $10,000 (or less), sold it for $500,000 and netted at least $15,000 more than he would if he had sold it as is.

The other downside of selling a house “as is” is the psychological effect it has on the buyer. First off, it is hard to fall in love with a house that clearly has a long to-do list associated with it. Very few people have the vision to see beyond worn out and dated interiors. So it is unlikely that someone will step through the front door and say “This is it! This is the one.”  Secondly, a house that is sold “as is” will leave buyers wondering what repairs are needed beyond the ones that they can see. Is the foundation solid? Is it structurally sound? Afraid of the unknown, they will either pass this house by or discount the price further to account for hidden problems they might encounter later.  Now the $500,000 house which has already been discounted to $475,000 gets discounted another $5,000-10,000.

My advice is to make the necessary repairs and enhancements before listing your house. Hire a professional real estate stager to come in and recommend which changes and improvements will yield the highest return on investment. You don’t want to over-improve your house and spend money on things that will not pay out so it’s important to have some professional advice if you want to maximize your return. A good stager can also recommend reasonably-priced tradespeople for these tasks, and some will even oversee the work for you.

Don't Be Penny Wise and Pound Foolish When Selling Your House

If you are planning to sell your house, you may be wondering whether to go to the expense of staging it first or just go ahead and list it without staging. After all, you can always stage it later if it doesn’t sell, right?

Well, right…as long as you don’t mind taking longer to sell and making less money when you do. Here’s why:

1. Your home will see the most action in the first two weeks after it’s listed. That’s when it gets the most buzz among the Realtors and when you typically get the most showings. That’s also when you are likely to get your highest offer. Don’t waste this golden opportunity by not putting your home’s best foot forward.

2. If you stage your home before you list it AND take great photos of your staged home, your agent will be able to attract more people to tour your house. 84% of people now pre-shop on the internet before physically visiting homes for sale. Make sure you don’t turn them off with lousy pictures. And don’t think you can get away with a single picture of the front of the house or a couple of pictures of the more presentable rooms. Too few pictures will send a red flag to potential buyers, who will think, “There must be something wrong with this house if they’re not showing us all of the rooms. Let’s skip it”

3. That old saying is true: “You never get a second chance to make a great first impression.” If a buyer tours your house and finds it cramped, cluttered or dated looking, they will never come back, even if you subsequently clean it up, stage it or even remodel it. They have moved on to the houses that were show-ready to begin with.

4. Time is NOT on your side. The longer your house sits on the market, the lower the selling price. If you don’t get an offer in the first month or so, your agent will pressure you to reduce your price. So you want to improve your odds of getting an offer right out of the gate by staging your home.

5. Staging before you list will force you to deal with your clutter and cast-offs sooner rather than later and make the whole process of moving more organized and less stressful.

Remember, when selling your house, you are playing the numbers game. The more people you can get through your front door, the more likely you will get an offer. So the objective is to attract as many potential buyers as possible and then wow them when they get there. That’s what staging does.