Clutter Conquered!
My car still fits in my garage but barely. Every time I get out of it, I cringe. What an accumulation of STUFF. The problem is that I am too overwhelmed to get started. In walks this gal and I expect to be bullied out of some stupid sentimental treasure or nominated for ‘Hoarders’ on reality TV. Instead I get steady and determined direction from the wonderfully patient organizer at Clutter’s Last Stand. Viola! Now my garage sale pile awaits my next free Saturday, the six broken clay pots are tossed and my shelves are full but tidy. She’s gonna head for my home office next……..what a relief! I feel like a new woman! Vivi…..my hero…..can be reached at 805 772-1516…….you won’t regret it!
Nancy Heins, Keith Byrd Team, North County Realtor of San Luis Obispo County including Paso Robles, Atascadero, Templeton and Santa Margarita. 805 458-3583
Light, Bright and Airy Home Staging Tips!
Summer is ending and fall is beginning. Around here and in real estate that means a few different things. The weather is HOT and kids are going back to school, so my tips for the week are about those two items!
If you have school aged kids, and your house is on the market, or soon to be- here are a few things to keep in m mind (since not everyone has children, so they don’t want to trip over kids stuff when viewing homes!):
- Try to get toys and paperwork under control, so that you don’t panic, when the Realtors call to show your house.
- Employ your kids to help keep the house especially neat while its on the market- I have even given rewards at my house for the kid who can keep their room the neatest through this important time on the market.
- Pre-plan a tucked away place for “school gear” to go, so that its easy to keep hidden, but easy for your children to find.
It’s HOT:
- Turn on the A/C before showings, so that your house feels like a retreat from the heat!
- If you have a pool or water feature, make sure that it looks clean and inviting for a break from the heat.
- Place seating in a shady part of your yard, if at all possible, so that it is inviting for buyers to enjoy a break in your yard (the longer they stay at your house, the more likely they will make and offer!).
Good luck and happy selling! -Shannon
If you would like to contact me personally please email me at shannon@LightBrightandAiry.com or visit my website at: www.LightBrightandAiry.com
Light, Bright and Airy Home Staging Tips
Kudos to Keith for what he wrote on Saturday about million dollar homes with less than million dollars views in their photos! This is exactly what I have been saying for years and its what lead me into staging! As a realtor many years ago and as the buyer and seller of many homes, I have learned from the school of hard knocks what it takes to make a home look appealing to a broad audience. The sad part is that most people don’t take the time to do it, either because they don’t see the flaws in their own home or because the don’t know how to change it. If you fall into either one of these categories, or your house has been on the market way tooooooo long, you need staging advice!
Not every house on the market needs staging, but every house needs to look its best to stand out in this crowded, slower moving market. Give yourself and your house a shot at selling, stage it or have it staged for you – and by all means pack your clutter before your photos are taken and posted on the MLS. To read a more specific blog I wrote similar to this topic, a few months back, please follow this link:
http://lightbrightandairy.blogspot.com/2008/10/expect-more.html
Feel free to contact me through my site: http://www.lightbrightandairy.com/
Happy selling!
Light, Bright and Airy Home Staging Tips
Happy 2009! From reading Keith’s blogs from the past few postings, I am so excited to see that listing numbers and days on market are fewer than this time last year! These are both good signs for our Real Estate market.
I went to a home today to meet with a realtor and seller and got a great new tip to share. Here in San Luis County we have a landscaping company that will come out and prepare your landscaping for the upcoming season. They will change the sprinkler settings and groom the yard appropriately for the weather that is upcoming, so that you can get the most out of your landscaping throughout the season. I thought this was a great staging tip, since not only will he get the curb appeal cleaned up for the listing, it will help the house look its best come spring, just in case it is still on the market at that point.
Good luck and happy selling! For more insight about staging your home for sale, please feel free to contact me directly through my website at http://www.lightbrightandairy.com/
Light Bright and Airy Home Staging Tips #6
Adding home market appeal in a tough market… I want to piggy back on Keith’s Blog from a few days ago about virtual tours. As a long-time real estate shopper, realtor, investor and stager I am always looking at listings on the internet to try to figure out why they may catch a buyers eye. I agree that virtual tours in many cases can just be an added expense and not truly add to your pool of interested buyers.
I can say without hesitation that several excellent photos, not virtual tours, have often drawn me in as a buyer. Creating excellent photo opportunities is exactly what home staging is about. As a Stager, I often take more pictures of a house before, than I do after, since the camera really accentuates many negative points about houses and spaces. Much like how the camera adds 10 pounds to an actor, the camera takes away square footage in a cramped or cluttered house. With those before photos, I will be able to better study the house photos and remove negative features that will be exaggerated by the camera -before the house pictures hit the internet.
Most importantly, in my opinion, if you are going to go to the time and expense of doing a virtual tour, or even professional photographs - make sure that you stage or prepare the home BEFORE those pictures are taken, so that when your photos hit the internet, your house looks its very best.
For more questions or home staging insight please feel free to contact me or view my website at: www.LightBrightandAiry.com
Happy Selling!
Light, Bright and Airy Home Staging Blog #5
Staging for living! Today I have some quick insight about home staging. So often after staging a home people tell me that they didn’t know that their house could look that good, or “If my house looked this good before, I wouldn’t be selling it.” So here is some real world advice if you want your house to look great for a future sell, but you want to enjoy it now.
Did you know that you can hire a home stager to give you ideas – even if you are not moving right now? If you think that you may want to sell your home sometime in the future, and want to make a few changes, but don’t want to over remodel for your neighborhood. Home stagers can share the best places to spend money that will give you the best return on your investment in the future. A stager can give you focus and material ideas that will have broad appeal just like they would for sale, but allow you to enjoy the update before the time to sell arrives. Usually a home stager will keep to a tighter budget than a decorator, thus protecting your investment dollar. For more information or to contact me directly, check out my website:
http://www.lightbrightandairy.com/
Light, Bright and Airy Home Staging Tips #4
I went out to a great house (under all that personal stuff) to stage today and I feel compelled to share with the big wide world, so that others can learn from common seller mistakes.
Common Mistakes Sellers Make:
- Too much clutter.
- Living in a home for sale is soooo different than living in it forever.
- White open walls in your house are a good thing when you are selling! Too many people like to decorate and cover up every available wall space with knick knacks and collections- this makes your house feel smaller.
- Prepare your house before you list it!
- Have your Realtor or stager do a walk-through with you BEFORE it goes in the MLS to get their advice for selling and value. Once it hits the market and looks a wreck its hard to get people to take a second look.
- Get a quote from a stager, it may be cheaper than you think. (That house I mentioned today, she paid $345 for labor and materials and her house looks GREAT now!)
- Hide everything, in a neat way, then take back out only a few key items.
- Remember to think from a buyers view, they want to see your house, not your stuff!
- Most importantly if you feel like you are out of your league, hire some professional help – don’t wait until you have let your house sit on the market for a few months with no success!
This market, although challenging, can be very workable if you prepare your home to stand out from the crowd. Happy Selling! To learn more or get in touch with me directly: http://www.lightbrightandairy.com/
Light, Bright and Airy Home Staging Tips #3
More tips for home buyers and sellers!! September issue of Consumer Reports Magazine has some great tips for both buyers and sellers. My favorite of course are the home staging tips, I could have written them to the letter. What it all comes down to is: when selling a home, whether you hire a professional home stager, or do it yourself, just make sure you are staging your home, buyers are starting to expect it and in a tough market it is just a smart way to stand out in the crowded real estate market!
If you don’t know what home staging is, or why your house might need it, please feel free to check out my site for lots of photos and insight: http://www.lightbrightandairy.com/ or my personal blog at: http://lightbrightandairy.blogspot.com/
