Saturday, April 21, 2012

The Uninvited Stager Series

It's time for more advice on what not to do when you are selling your home.


Don't Make Your Home Un-Bearable:  Sorry for the bad pun, but when you are marketing your home, you want online buyers to be intrigued enough to make an appointment to come see it.  You don't want them laughing at their laptops! This particular home had several rooms featuring bears!  So, put the stuffed animals away in boxes - and make your rooms look livable and lovable.


Ditch the Dorm Room Look:  This is in the same home as above.  The dog poster on the wall (held up with scotch tape), grandmas's chair in the corner, the particle board, cluttered desk and the cheap valance for the window don't do anything to entice a potential buyer. A nice, framed piece of artwork, simple sheer panels on the window, a neatened desk and a nicer chair - would do wonders for this room - easily and inexpensively.  PS - shut off the flash when taking photos.


 Open up Shower Curtains in Bathrooms:  This is a very nice bath...but it would have looked better had the owner or realtor ironed the shower curtain.  Pulling the curtain back to the right side with a tassel or a hook and decorative roping would have been even nicer. It would help to make the room look larger.


 Don't Emphasize Hard-to-Decorate Windows:  In this lovely bathroom, it's very obvious that the owners didn't know what to do with this window.  If the owners don't know what to do...the buyers won't know either. This window should have been decorated with a simple blind in the same shade as the wall - so that it would blend in.





Don't Over-Emphasize an Empty Room:  The guitar in the corner just points to the fact that this room really has no function and no furniture.  The owners could have easily put in a air mattress with bedding, a pillow and some artwork - and it would look more welcoming.  Empty rooms connote some possible buyer distress, which could possibly mean a lower offer.



Don't Over-Emphasize an Almost Empty Room with no Function:  We all have those rooms or areas of our homes that seem to collect the stuff we don't know what to do with.  But, when you are selling your home you need to address this and eliminate it.  You are selling a dream, an ideal way of life in your home.  Buyers don't want to see another home like theirs...they are searching for home buying Nirvana - even if it's a lie. Give each room a function - make it a home office or a guest room.

High ceilings are wonderful, if you know how to decorate them:  This room is lovely, but the dark color on the wall only serves to make the room seem a bit squat.  It's too much contrast. I would have lightened the wall color - perhaps using Shaker Beige (HC-45) from Benjamin Moore and then possibly adding some white to the mix and painting the ceiling a lighter version of the color. It would make the room seem larger and less angular (with those short side walls).



 Avoid Too Much Personalization, Themes and Collections:  I just had to include this picture from my realtor friend and fellow blogger, Leif Swanson of Ugly House Photos. He always has some great images of what not to do when selling your home - culled from homes across the country that are for sale. The photo below is something that a homeowner's son may be in love with...but to a buyer it just represents clutter and they cannot see "the room."  Leif calls this "Clutter Blindness" on the part of the seller.  So, get your personalized collections and memorabilia off your walls and shelves and show the buyer the room...not the stuff.

The Spring selling season is in full swing right now...buyers are out there looking for great homes to buy.  Don't blow your chances of selling quickly by being guilty of some of the above faux pas.  Clean up, clear out...and get on with your life and sell your home now.

Call me at 631 793-1315 or email me at Linda.Leyble@gmail.com if you would like some help in getting your home ready and beautiful so that it can be sold quickly.

6 comments:

Maureen Wyatt said...

What an odd window treatment over the tub! Sometimes, nothing is better than a weird thing. Great advice, as always! ~ Maureen

Barbara @ 21 Rosemary Lane said...

Great advice Linda...I have a friend who is trying to sell her father's small home so she called me for advice. She said that her siblings were going to empty the house so it looks larger. She needs to send her siblings this post!

Judy at GoldCountryCottage said...

Hi Linda: Good advice. It always just floors me that some people just don't have common sense..Happy Saturday..Judy

Julia @ Hooked on Houses said...

Ha! Love it.

Asset Line said...

This is really so beautiful post i am so inspired here.
Thanks for sharing...




Japan auction for used machinery

Stan and Jody Gabara said...

Love this post. Very inspirational! Thanks for stopping by. I'm a New Follower.

Jody

LinkWithin

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...