Simple Tips for Better Home Showings

1. Remove clutter and clear off counters. Throw out stacks of newspapers and magazines and stow away most of your small decorative items. Put excess furniture in storage, and remove out-of-season clothing items that are cramping closet space. Don’t forget to clean out the garage, too.
2. Wash your windows and screens. This will help get more light into the interior of the home.

3. Keep everything extra clean. A clean house will make a strong first impression and send a message to buyers that the home has been well-cared for. Wash fingerprints from light switch plates, mop and wax floors, and clean the stove and refrigerator. Polish your doorknobs and address numbers. It’s worth hiring a cleaning service if you can afford it.

4. Get rid of smells. Clean carpeting and drapes to eliminate cooking odors, smoke, and pet smells. Open the windows to air out the house. Potpourri or scented candles will help.

5. Brighten your rooms. Put higher wattage bulbs in light fixtures to brighten up rooms and basements. Replace any burned-out bulbs in closets. Clean the walls, or better yet, brush on a fresh coat of neutral color paint.

6. Don’t disregard minor repairs. Small problems such as sticky doors, torn screens, cracked caulking, or a dripping faucet may seem trivial, but they’ll give buyers the impression that the house isn’t well-maintained.

7. Tidy your yard. Cut the grass, rake the leaves, add new mulch, trim the bushes, edge the walkways, and clean the gutters. For added curb appeal, place a pot of bright flowers near the entryway.

8. Patch holes. Repair any holes in your driveway and reapply sealant, if applicable.

9. Add a touch of color in the living room. A colored afghan or throw on the couch will jazz up a dull room. Buy new accent pillows for the sofa.

10. Buy a flowering plant and put it near a window you pass by frequently.

11. Make centerpieces for your tables. Use brightly colored fruit or flowers.

12. Set the scene. Set the table with fancy dishes and candles, and create other vignettes throughout the home to help buyers picture living there. For example, in the basement you might display a chess game in progress.

13. Replace heavy curtains with sheer ones that let in more light. Show off the view if you have one.

14. Accentuate the fireplace. Lay fresh logs in the fireplace or put a basket of flowers there if it’s not in use.

15. Make the bathrooms feel luxurious. Put away those old towels and toothbrushes. When buyers enter your bathroom, they should feel pampered. Add a new shower curtain, new towels, and fancy guest soaps. Make sure your personal toiletry items are out of sight.

16. Send your pets to a neighbor or take them outside. If that’s not possible, crate them or confine them to one room (ideally in the basement), and let the real estate practitioner know where they’ll be to eliminate surprises.

17. Lock up valuables, jewelry, and money. While a real estate salesperson will be on site during the showing or open house, it’s impossible to watch everyone all the time.

18. Leave the home. It’s usually best if the sellers are not at home. It’s awkward for prospective buyers to look in your closets and express their opinions of your home with you there.

What is Appraised Value?

• Appraisals provide an objective opinion of value, but it’s not an exact science so appraisals may differ.
• For buying and selling purposes, appraisals are usually based on market value — what the property could probably be sold for. Other types of value include insurance value, replacement value, and assessed value for property tax purposes.

• Appraised value is not a constant number. Changes in market conditions can dramatically alter appraised value.

• Appraised value doesn’t take into account special considerations, like the need to sell rapidly.

• Lenders usually use either the appraised value or the sale price, whichever is less, to determine the amount of the mortgage they will offer.

Used with permission from Kim Daugherty, Real Estate Checklists and Systems, www.realestatechecklists.com

5 Things to do Before Putting Your Home on the Market

1. Have a pre-sale home inspection. Be proactive by arranging for a pre-sale home inspection. An inspector will be able to give you a good indication of the trouble areas that will stand out to potential buyers, and you’ll be able to make repairs before open houses begin.

2. Organize and clean. Pare down clutter and pack up your least-used items, such as large blenders and other kitchen tools, out-of-season clothes, toys, and exercise equipment. Store items off-site or in boxes neatly arranged in the garage or basement. Clean the windows, carpets, walls, lighting fixtures, and baseboards to make the house shine.

3. Get replacement estimates. Do you have big-ticket items that are worn our or will need to be replaced soon, such your roof or carpeting? Get estimates on how much it would cost to replace them, even if you don’t plan to do it yourself. The figures will help buyers determine if they can afford the home, and will be handy when negotiations begin.

4. Find your warranties. Gather up the warranties, guarantees, and user manuals for the furnace, washer and dryer, dishwasher, and any other items that will remain with the house.

5. Spruce up the curb appeal. Pretend you’re a buyer and stand outside of your home. As you approach the front door, what is your impression of the property? Do the lawn and bushes look neatly manicured? Is the address clearly visible? Are pretty flowers or plants framing the entrance? Is the walkway free from cracks and impediments?

Warm, Cool, and Neutral Colors

Colors are grouped into the categories of warm, cool, and neutral.  Warm colors include red, red-orange, orange, yellow-orange, and yellow.  Warm colors are considered, positive, active, cozy, and stimulating.  Warm colors can make spaces feel smaller.  If the warm colors are used with too much intensity the colors can make individuals feel irritable.  Cool colors include blue, blue-green, green, violet, and blue-violet.  Cool colors can make you feel relaxed, they are soothing and restful.  Cool colors are recessive and can make the space seem larger.  The downside is cool colored rooms may seem unfriendly and cold and may lack any variety.  Neutral and Neutralized colors.  Technically the only neutral colors are white, black and gray, they are neutral because they lack any color.  Colors that fall between the warm and cool colored groups are considered neutralized colors.  Examples are beige, brown, cream, ivory, taupe, off white and off black.  Neutralized colors are livable, restful, supportive, and tranquil.  But if the neutralized colors are not used effectively they can produce a feeling of boredom and weariness.  When picking paint and accent colors to use in a room think about the space and what feelings you want to invoke.

Vignettes

Vignettes are small scenes set up in a house such as: A chair in the corner of an empty living room with a side table, lamp, pretty throw and a book.  In the kitchen you could add a small table and chairs with a vase of flowers and 2 place settings.  With vignettes you are setting up a scene in the room to help the buyers see the potential of the room.  There are so many ideas to use.  Find a nice shady spot in the back yard add a small table with two chairs.  Then put on the table a glass pitcher of lemonade and two glasses.  Just remember when doing your vignettes not to add too much to one area.  You just want to add enough to make the areas potential stand out. Vignette is pronounced (vin-yet).

Think Like A Buyer

The buyer is looking at your home as potentially their next home.  Help them to visualize it as their home.  Some of the words people use to describe their home might be: safety, comfortable, cozy, welcoming, happy, family, warmth and security.  You want to stage your home to help stimulate as many of these feelings as you can.  You want the new buyers to see this as their next home where they as a family will spend time together and make new and lasting memories.  Think like the buyer and remove anything that the buyer would not want to see.  Remove personal items that will not help the buyer imagine it as their home.  Bring in things that are appealing to everyone, candles, flowers, plants, light, organization and the right amount of color. 

Flowers And Plants

Fresh flowers are a great addition to your home staging plan.  Use an arrangement with just one color.  Instead of bouquet of mixed flowers then you will have more control over the color you are adding to your room.  Change out the flowers as needed you do not want dying or dead flowers when showing your home.  Live plants are a great and inexpensive prop for staging.  Place your plant in a decorative pot to improve a dull lifeless area.  Please remember to water your plant to keep it healthy and alive.

Produce Props

Grocery store props are great for the kitchen.  Apples in a decorative bowl add a great smell and color to the room.  Place lemons in a glass bowl to add some needed color to a dark corner in your kitchen.  Oranges or grapefruit add a great punch of color.  Remember when using produce as a staging prop to remove the stickers from each one.

The Laundry Room

Remove all clutter and clean everything.  Create a place where you can do your sorting and folding if possible.  Put up shelving and a rod for hanging cloths. Store your soap and cleaners in decorative canisters.  If you have the space us decorative baskets for sorting. Put a nice rug on the floor in front of the washer and dryer. If you have wall space add a decorative focal piece with the laudry room theme. Keep the area clean and organized.

Add a Rug

Add a rug with color to tile, wood, or laminate floors.  Never put a rug on top of carpet.  Place a rug in front of the kitchen sink and in front of stove, depending on how large the room is.  Add rugs to cold tile floors in kitchens and baths. When adding color to floors make sure it goes well with the flooring.   Place rugs inside of exterior doorways, make sure they do not move easily.  Here are some ideas to keep the rug in place.  Buy either a felt carpet pad (can be purchased from carpet stores), or buy Incorporate laytex webbing, can be purchased in rolls and cut to the size of your rug.  You can buy rugs with a rubber backing.  In addition you can use self adhesive velcro to attach the rug in place.

Appeal To Their Emotions

95% of the time a buyers decision is based on their emotions.  Make your home feel warm and inviting. Make the home smell good.  Open all the windows for 15 mins and let the home air out. Then close the windows and burn a candle with a nice not so overwhelming smell.  Turn all the lights (bedrooms. kitchen, hallways, baths, laundry, stairway, and even storage areas).  You do not want the buyers to feel like they are in the dark.  Turn on accent lighting such as lamps and wall lights.  If you have a fireplace turn it on.  Make sure beds are made and pillows arrange nicely.  Make your bedrooms feel like an oasis a place to rest and enjoy.  Make sure bathrooms are clean no garbage in the waste basket, no soap in the shower, no dirty towels hanging over the shower.  You can even go so far as to have a set of towels to put out when you are showing your home.  They buyer does not want to know anything personal about your bathroom.  The bathroom should look and feel like a hotel or model home bathroom.  Arrange seating areas to have a smooth flow, a good layout in the room.  In the dining area add a flower arrangement to the center of the table.  In the kitchen nothing should be on the counters not soap, washcloths, or dishes.  And a fruit basket to the counter.  Keep things simple and clean.

Home Staging

Home staging is becoming more popular. Homes are sitting on the market longer and sellers are starting to see the benefits of home staging.  When you are in competition with other houses in your market, you need to make yours stand out.  Staging your home to appeal to potential buyers.  The key is to look at it from a prospective buyers point of view.  It is helpful to depersonalize your house.  Taking down family and personal photos may not seem to be that big of a deal but it is important for the buyers to see the house as their home.  It is also very important to start by cleaning and decluttering your home.  Cleaning and organization might mean you need to make some needed repairs.  Start with the noticeable and small things and work you way up to the big projects.  Repair holes in walls touch up paint.  Remove stains in carpet if you can.  Fix broken items.  Once you have done your cleaning start decluttering.  Rent a storage unit if needed.  Start to remove excessive furniture, clothing, and storage items.  Make the space in your home feel more roomy.  Once you have done these main steps you can start to decorate and rearrange to make the rooms more appealing to buyers.

Tip Of The Day

I liked this tip it is simple and effective.  To make a room feel and look like it has a higher ceiling hang straight curtains on both sides of your window(s) mounted right at the ceiling, hanging down all the way to the floor.  This is a neat trick to add interest to your room.

De-clutter

It is amazing how much junk and unwanted things we hold on to.  Now is the time to get rid of those items.  Clean out junk in drawers, closets, cupboards and anywhere else it is accumulating.  De-cluttering can actually be very liberating.  If you have not used it, worn it or knew you still had it, in a year it is time to throw it out or donate it.  Clear off shelves, tables, dressers, and counters of stuff that does not need to be there.  The rule of less is more is a good rule to follow.  Think of it this way when you pack to move you will be going through everything this just makes moving and selling a little easier.

Depersonalize

Take down family pictures and other pictures that might distract the buyer. Put away all personal items such as trophy's and personal collections. Remove your children's drawings from the fridge. The buyer wants to imagine themselves living in that home, and they need to look past your personal tastes. Make your home feel like a model home. Clean the bathrooms so that there are no personal items in sight. Have a box under the sink where you can put your personal items while showing your home. Your bathroom should be like a hotel bathroom, clean and clutter free. Bedrooms should be free of clutter and closets should be neat. Do not leave your laundry out, put it away and if you do not have time put them in the washer and dryer to hide them. Remember you want to put all of the personal stuff away that you can so the buyer can imagine your home as theirs. Also remember if you take down a wall of family pictures, do not leave nail holes patch and paint them. And then where needed add a none personal picture or decoration.

The Entry Way

The entry way should make the buyers have an immediate emotional reactions to the home. It finishes off the the first impression, the first half being the curb appeal. The moment they walk into the home can sometimes make or break the sale. The entry way should be free of clutter and as roomy as possible. If there is too much furniture in the area remove some of it. Remove baskets of shoes things that can be put in closets. Like everywhere else in the home the entry was should be cleaned near perfectly. No dust, dirt, hand prints on the wall, touch up paint if necessary. The entry way should be well light to make the home feel inviting and warm. If you have a wall in the entry way put a nice focal point there, such as a picture or a mirror. Remember mirrors can make small areas feel a little larger.

Tip For Mold

Tip for mold in your house. Mix half bleach half water in a spray bottle. Spray on affected areas of walls and tiles. Once mold is clean you can repaint if you choose to. Be careful it is bleach do not get it on carpets, rugs, curtains etc.

The Kitchen

The kitchen can make or break a sale. Clean, clean, clean the kitchen every nook and cranny the baseboards the cupboards inside and out. Scour the sink. Clear off the counter tops, make sure the cupboards are organized and not to crowded. When you show your home the counter tops should have nothing on them. Put all dirty dish rags and towels in the laundry room. Put away the toaster, there should no papers or clutter on the counters. When you have finished cleaning, fix things that you can. If there is a need for paint put on a new coat. Paint is cheap but it makes things feel new. Fix the loose screws on the doors. You do not have to put a lot of money into your kitchen to sell, just keep it clean, organized and the minor repairs done. Always have things fixed that are broken. Now that it is clean from top to bottom add a fruit bowl or flowers on the counter top and you are ready to show it. Remember the little things you do to make you house sell will help, start small, just start somewhere.

Check It Out

Check it out great information on selling your home by owner.
For Sale By Owner webinar
Date of webinar is 2/3/10 5:30 - 6:30

For Sale By Owner Webinar click here

The First Impression

The first impression should be the most important thing, which brings us to curb appeal. Go stand out front of you house and look at it. What seems right and what seems wrong. Take your personal taste out of the equation and see if there is something that should be fixed. Is the house accessible are the sidewalks shoveled? Are there children's toys all over the drive way?
It could be larger issues such as the house needs a new paint job. This may be more than you can take on. Start with the things that you can. Clean, organize and start with simple projects. A clean organized home is a happy sellable home.

Tips For Preparing Your Home For Sale

You may not be able to finish the basement or remodel the kitchen, but you can improve the market value of
your home. It is important to attract as many qualified buyers as possible. In preparing your home for sale,
it is important to look at your home through a buyers eyes. People buy what they see. So look at your
home as if you were in a buyers shoes. Make your home as appealing and uncluttered as the home you
would like to buy.

OUTSIDE
• Mow the lawn, trim trees and shrubs away from house. You can't sell a house if you can't see it. Rake leaves, remove dead plants, flowers or shrubs.
• Put away tools, garbage cans, hoses, toys and building materials neatly in the garage.
• Check for broken roof shingles, straight lines on gutters, shutters, windows and siding.
• Clean windows and front door. Paint, if needed.
• Seal or resurface driveway.
• Clear patios or decks of planters, flower pots, charcoal barbecues.
• In the front yard, dress up around shrubs and lamp posts with large quartz stones, railroad ties and pine bark mulch, etc.
• Use bright light bulb in foyer light fixture.
• Turn on all lights in the home in the evening to welcome potential buyers.
• Fill the house with the pleasant aroma of cinnamon or other fresh scent.
• Spotlessly clean woodwork, carpeting and windows throughout the house.
• Clear window ledges of all objects to give a nice glimpse inside and out.
• Repaint walls, if necessary, in neutral color (such as antique white).

LIVING ROOM
• Discard worn furniture and move extra to storage area. Too much furniture makes a room look small.
• Visit a model home to get decorating ideas.
• Clear away all magazines, books and unnecessary objects from furniture throughout the house.
• Take down pictures that hide walls. Patch nail holes and paint.
• Add lamps and lighting if dark.
• Open curtains, blinds, etc.
• Set out fresh flowers.

KITCHEN
• Professionally clean oven and stove.
• Replace broken appliances and repair squeaks, drips or binds in cabinet drawers.
• Clean all appliances, inside and out, until they are spotless. Wax and polish floors.
• Clean refrigerator front of messages, pictures and magnets.
• Clear all magazines, small appliances and cookware from counter tops.
• If it hasnt been used for months, put it away!

FAMILY ROOM
• Clean fireplace.
• Replace carpet if its a loud color.
• Remove all magazines, toys and worn furnishings that might influence a buyers feeling about the room.

BATHROOMS
• Remove any unnecessary items from counter tops, tubs and commode. Put as much away
as possible, and make each bathroom look like a guest bathroom.
• Sink, commode, bathtub, tile and shower curtain should look immaculate - no soap film or hair.
• Fix leaky faucets, rust stains and faulty plumbing that may squeak or bind.
• Caulk and grout tile. Bleach discolored tile. Replace or remove any wallpaper that isnt conservative.
• Coordinate towels to one or two colors only.
• Place softer bulbs in bathroom fixtures and scented flower arrangement on vanity top.

MASTER BEDROOM
• This is the second most important room that needs to be appealing in a home (after the kitchen, before the family room and garage).
• Define areas, sleeping, dressing and sitting by furniture arrangement. Try to have bedroom look as simply furnished as possible.
• Be sure all clothes are hanging up, not laying out in room.
• Make closets more appealing by storing off-season clothes elsewhere. Go ahead and pack them up, since youre moving away.

CHILDRENS BEDROOMS
• Heres a challenge: ask children and teenagers to help by thoroughly cleaning up their rooms, removing all posters, questionable photographs. Low lighting and clutter make bedrooms look smaller or darker than they are.
• Patch and paint walls, if necessary.
• Open curtains.

GARAGE
• The perfect garage contains only cars. But if this is not possible, clean up, fix up, sell or toss out unneeded items.
• Clean and seal cement floor.
• Neatly stack tools and clean up work bench, and tidy up storage shelf areas.
• Clean water heater and change filters.